The Guardians
by Shios
Summary: Different worlds, different heroes, similar stories. Many warriors join to create a small army in order to defend these worlds and their own. A crossover story. Please read summary inside, if you're still not interested then continue on your way.
1. Prologue

Summary

Warriors from different worlds are called forth to join the ranks of an ancient organization known as The Guardians. They must fight to save other worlds as much as their own. Join Goku, Cloud, Link and Ranma along with many others on this very strange and crazy journey in becoming protectors of the known universes. An extreme crossover.

Ling-Lin: Hey there I hope you like this fella. I really do. It's actually quite interesting. Any questions you can just ask me. Enjoy!

The Guardians.

Prologue

The boy looked around the fog to see where he was, but all he could see was the stupid silvery stuff. Yet he could sense something was there, watching him pass by on the moving platform he was standing on. He moved closer to his dad seeking his protection, all the while pretending that he wasn't afraid.

"You afraid kid?" his father asked him. The boy didn't want his dad to think him a coward, so he shook his head and tried to look at the fog without wincing. Of course his father wasn't in anyway fooled by his son's little act. He knew well the feeling of traveling through this fog for the first time. It wasn't at all comfortable to travel in something that you couldn't see or know if something was about to pounce at you. But understanding that his son was a bit too proud for his age, he let it pass and didn't say anything else. His wife and a friend of his son's who was older by five years, tried to hide their smiles from the boy, he was the replica of his father, both physically and in attitude, of course the father was all grown up and mature, but when he was his son's age he was exactly the same.

The boy dared himself to go closer to the side and look down, but the klutz slipped and fell off the edge. All he could feel while falling was a nasty chill. He screamed but couldn't hear his voice. He closed his eyes not wanting to see what he hit before dieing. He suddenly felt something grab him and he thought that it was some kind of creature that was going to eat him. Feeling the sudden ground under his feet, he opened his eyes to see who had grabbed him. What he saw was the black trench coat of his father, he looked up into his fathers eyes. He smiled knowing his father had saved him, but as the stupidity of what happened dawned on him, his smile faded. Feeling embarrassed about making a fool of himself and almost dieing in front of the important and respected figure that was his father, he looked away and directed his gaze to the ground.

"Sorry." He said in a barely audible voice. He was really expecting a hard smack on the head or a berating from his dad. It didn't come. Instead his father stood up and looked down on him.

"You won't do something that dangerous again will you?" he asked with the face of a father who is expecting to be obeyed.

"I won't do it again." The kid said simply.

"You sure?" he said suspiciously.

"Yes."

"Good! Lesson learned!" he said brightly turning away.

"Huh?" the boy said confused. He caught up to his father and looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"That you learned your lesson, what's so hard to understand? You won't do it again because you know it was stupid. Now you know you must think before you act." He said simply.

"I always think before I act!" the boy said indignantly.

"Not just then you didn't! Now go play around, I'll call you when lunch is ready."

Caught up in the moment, the boy hadn't noticed they had arrived at… wherever they were going. Looking around he took in the details. He was in a meadow with grass that looked like green fur making it feel like he was on the back of some big animal. The sun shone brightly through the branches of the trees at his side. The boy ran to one and climbed almost slipping. Once he got as high as he could go, he looked farther and noted all the exotic and strange flowers that doted the ground. There was a stream that looked like it was filled with diamonds as the sun reflected on it's clean water. A cool breeze shook the leaves of the tree and caressed the skin.

The boy got off the tree to inspect the stream more closely, when he got there he realized that it was full of diamonds, it also had other precious stones. He stared into the water and saw a green stone, pulling up his sleeve, he reached into the water and took it out. It was a beautiful green stone that reminded him of the eyes of a girl he had a crush on. He decided to keep it.

It was good to get out and relax for a change, he was always either studying or training with his father in order to become a strong leader like him one day. He was always hard pressed to keep up with him and his men in whatever area they specialized in. His father was most of the time with his men, not because he preferred being with them, but because they were important in keeping the order of the worlds. He trained harder than was strictly necessary for a kid of his age, because he wanted to be the best. His father never told him not to, he just smiled and let him at it. His mom also understood, she was the wife after all and a very good warrior herself.

Hours passed and he kept on playing around and exploring. Looking into a hole in the ground where a rabbit had hidden, he noticed a glint at the corner of his eye. He looked up at the direction it had come from. In the distance he saw something shining brightly, he felt it beaconing him across the stream towards it. He had just taken one step in that direction when he heard his mom calling him to eat. He didn't like to keep his mom waiting, so he turned and ran to her, but he still looked back towards the glimmer.

He ate his food fast, when he was done, he jumped up, thanked his mother and started to run off.

"Whoa," said his firend grabbing him by the arm and stopping him, "where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I wanted to see something." The boy said simply.

"Don't take too long," his mother said, "we're leaving in five minutes, your father has to get back to work."

"Okay ma!" he said already running.

"He's always got energy for something." His friend said.

Getting to the stream he almost practically jumped to the other side. Getting in the middle of the flowers, he stopped to look for the shiny beacon. He saw it and went to it. The shine came from a rose, a golden rose. He stared at it in awe. He felt it call out to him again, begging him to get closer, so he did. He was entranced by it, the only thing that seemed to exist to him any more was the rose. He heard a whisper, it told him to grab it. Reaching out, he had barely touched it, when one of it's thorns attacked one of his fingers. He took his hand away with a wince and put his finger into his mouth, it hurt like bloody hell. He looked at his finger and there was just a tiny drop of blood. There was a cackle behind him. He spun around into a fighting position , and he saw an old man who seemed to have been carved out of wood, his skin was dark and withered, deep lines etched into his face. His hands were claw like and looked as if they would brake with any movement. As old as he looked, there was a strange presence about him.

"The Rose of Despair just pricked you, didn't it?" the old man asked.

"Who are you?" the boy decided to stay still in his fighting position. Never underestimate, no matter how he may look, his father always said.

The old man didn't answer, instead he said, "The Rose's whim will be fulfilled, you will die very soon. But I think you will die in the hour."

"An hour! What?! What are you talking about?!" the boy said panicked.

"You will die in an hour." The old man teased and started to cackle.

"The cure! What's the cure?!" the boy asked frantically.

"There is no cure." The old man answered and started to vanish.

"No, no! Wait! Come back! There's got to be!" A laugh answered him. Then there was just silence.

"I won't die like this…" he said shaking with rage, "I WONT!!!"


	2. Chapter 1 Dreams

Ling-Lin: Hi! Here is next chapter. It will make sence and become more interesting as it progresses as in every other story so please enjoy. Any suggestions? Feel free to tell me.

Chapter 1

File # 1

Dreams

_A past may chase you if you try to escape from it…but once you confront it,_

_It's just an old memory inside you. There's nothing to be afraid of._

_- Cho Hakkai ( Gensomaden Saiyuki)_

Somewhere

Where were they? In the middle of a freakin' dessert. Why? Because there are really stupid people in these worlds. Wait! Not people, _things_. The _thing_ led them there. The _thing _was the reason why he was so pissed off. _Pissed off! _But all he could do now was glare at the…….._thing. _

Saotome, Genma (Ranma ½)

Age: 19

Sex: Male

Nationality: Japan

Race: Half-Phoenix half human

Profession: Guardian, thief

Appearance: Black hair, black eyes, Asian skin, perfect build, has no visible scars.

Fighting Style: Mosebuto-kakuto-ryuu (Anything goes martial arts)

Saotome Style.

Rank: 4th warrior

Ketchum, Juste (Original)

Age: 16

Sex: Male

Nationality: Not really known

Race: Human

Profession: Guardian, Pokemon Trainer

Appearance: Black spiky hair, black eyes, _pale_ skin, seemingly of

normal but not weak build, has no visible scars.

Fighting Style: Summoning

Rank: Warrior

Genma was glaring at Juste very nastily. It was _his_ fault that they were all standing in the middle of no where under a boiling sun in God knew what world. Yes, _world. _They were supposed to be on a mission like they always were. Of course, this time the mission had to be screwed up by the stupid kid and they would all be severely punished by their boss, Lance. Genma shivered, that guy was freaky.

Time was flowing like a stream, except that there were no streams there, but Genma liked metaphors. What was going to happen next? Maybe there would be a very strong earthquake, provoked by some god that hated their sorry existences and the ground would open dropping them into some hellish place were every demon who saw them ran away for _their_ sorry existences. It would be funny to see a bunch of…_things_...running from him and the other twenty five people with him and maybe that way Lance wouldn't be able to kick their asses.

Wishful thinking.

Genma suddenly noticed that Justin was glaring at _him._ _What_ the hell? It wasn't his fault!

"What are you looking at twerp!" he yelled at him.

"What are _you_ looking at you brainless buffoon!" Juste yells back.

They glared at each other, resisting the urge to kick each others asses, yet maybe it would give them something to do if they did.

"What _are _you doing, Genma?" said a slightly British accented voice behind him. Genma gave a start and turned to look at the originator of that voice, which belonged to his partner, Kent.

Nolathary, Kent (Original)

Age: 20

Sex: Male

Nationality: Diania

Race: Elf/Drow/fairy

Profession: Guardian, Shikeah

Appearance: Dirty blond hair, light blue eyes with a

reddish glow, _pale_ skin, perfect build, elven ears, no visible scar.

Fighting Style: Dervish.

Rank: 3rd warrior

Kent just looked at his partner with questioning eyes, yet those weird eyes of his were capable of sending a chill through anyone, but look into them hard enough and you could see that he was just a passive elf ready for action. Genma didn't know how it worked being passive and ready for action in one go, but Kent just…was. Still, he had a temper no matter how passive his eyes looked. Genma knew that very well by now, being Kent's fighting partner for three years and the one to receive most of his temper. Of course Genma did the same thing most of the time. Besides that, they got along pretty well and sometimes had the same thoughts and finished each others sentences, which was unnerving, but Lance said that would happen the more they were around each other. Genma turned away from his partner and kept glaring at Justin who was still glaring at _him_.

"I'm glaring at Juste." He said simply.

"I can see that." Kent said flatly. "But why are you glaring at Justin?"

"Because it's his fault we're here, I'm pissed off and I need to severely hurt something." Genma answered roughly.

"Go hurt him then." Kent said lazily, looking at his nail.

"I can't." Genma said in a wailing voice.

"And why not." said Kent, still lazily.

"'Cause his partner is looking at me."

"Huh!"

Loire, Laguna (Final Fantasy 8)

Age: 26

Sex: Male

Profession: Guardian, Galbadian soldier

Nationality: Galbadia

Race: Human

Appearance: Long brown hair, brown eyes, earring

on left ear, pale skin, athletic, no visible scars.

Fighting Style: Gun use

Rank: Warrior

Laguna Loire was not scary, anything but. He was a bit childish and odd, but he was a good guy in every sense of the word. Yet it is never a wise thing to make someone mad, especially if you don't know how they may react. That alone was the reason why Genma wasn't about to attack his partner.

"I get mad if someone is messing with you and I've seen you do the same thing. I'm not going to risk myself getting a bullet in my ass." Genma explained. "Besides, I'm too hungry at the moment." As if confirming it, his stomach began to growl. "Any chance that you might have some food in your pouch?" he asked hopefully.

Kent looked at him and shook his head. "Sorry friend, forgot to get some at the moment, the Marauders were bothering me and I wasn't thinking about it at the time." He said while his stomach also began to growl.

"Forgot?! How could you forget?! Food is practically our talisman! Ahhhh, I'm hungry! I already ate the little I could get!" Genma moaned. Kent didn't answer, he just looked at his friend.

Genma and Kent weren't the only ones hungry, looking around, they could see the rest of the team with their faces practically screaming 'FOOD! WE NEED FOOD! NOW!!!', but of course none could do anything but stand there and suffer. Why no one got enough food or any at all, was beyond them. For fighters such as themselves, food was gold. Just that simple.

They were all suffering right that moment. Not from the heat. Not from exhaustion. But by the horrible hunger.

Suddenly a big bag of chips appeared at the guy's feet.

"Humph, I would think you two smarter. Bring enough food next time." Said a deep dangerous voice.

"We can't keep babysitting you all the time, you so called warriors." Another deep more dangerous voice said disapprovingly.

Kent and Genma turned around to see the two men whose voices belonged to.

Strife, Mikel (Original)

Age: 27

Sex: Male

Profession: Guardian, Soldier, Rebel.

Nationality: Midgar

Race: Soul taker

Appearance: Blond really messy spiky hair, silvery blue eyes, white skin,

perfect build, no visible scars.

Fighting Style: Sword melee

Rank: 2nd warrior

Bardock (Dragon Ball)

Age: 31

Sex: Male

Profession: Guardian, Saiyan soldier

Nationality: Vegitasai

Race: Saiyan

Appearance: Black hair that sticks up in the front and back, black eyes,

tanned, big athletic build, two scars crossing each other on his left cheek.

Fighting Style: Melee

Rank: 1st warrior

Just like that, the two strongest warriors proved to be the best, once again. One, the very nasty soldier, made it part of his mission to humiliate another for his or her incapability in a fight or simple survival. The other, the creepy saiyan, did almost the same. He, being of a race that demanded perfection as a warrior, was kind of harsh when it came to telling them what they did wrong. The rest of them might complain about it, even tried to ignore it, but they had to admit, not to Mikel or Bardock's faces, that the humiliation and harshness of their words was one of the reasons why they trained harder and became better everyday. They simply didn't want to make fools of themselves in front of these men, especially since they were Lance's right and left hands. It didn't matter that Kent and Genma were just one or two steps below them in rank, they always got a harsh word or something, maybe they were picked on especially since they had the third and fourth positions. But that was life. If you want to be the best, _be_ the best.

Kent picked up the bag of chips and opened it up to see if there _were_ chips. You could never be sure with those two, they liked to taunt. It was a surprise for Kent and Genma when they saw that they were. They looked at Mikel who had a smirk on his face.

"Are these poisoned?" Kent asked cautiously.

"Of course not!" Mikel answered.

Kent and Genma looked at each other.

"Why are you being nice?" Genma asked.

"Nice?" Mikel asked confused, he looked at Bardock. Bardock just shrugged, they looked back at the other two. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Since when have we ever been nice?" Bardock asked.

"Why aren't they poisoned then?" Genma asked in return.

"Well, we can't have you two falling on your faces now can we." Bardock responded.

"Bull shit." Said a British accented voice, "You like these boys and admit it."

They looked towards the man that had spoken feeling as if they had just swallowed a chunk of ice. The man that they saw standing there with his arms crossed and an evil look accompanied by a smile was none other than their boss, Lance.

Asha'man, Lance (Original

Age: 21

Sex: Male

Profession: Guardian

Nationality: Caeme

Race: Hanyou (Half Demon)

Appearance: Long blond hair, blue eyes, pale skinned, perfect

build, earring on left ear, no visible scars.

Fighting Style: Anything

Rank: Leader

Lance Asha'man. He wasn't stronger than Bardock or Mikel, but damn, that guy could torture them both without hesitation and without any fear. The thing was, Lance knew all of their weak points, their fears, their fighting techniques, even their secret crushes. He used psychology more often than fists or weapons. He knew exactly how to use it on them with the guarantee that they would fall for it. He was the kind of boss you always tried to be on the good side on, if you weren't, well, you're dead.

Standing there looking at them in silence, it was enough to make them nervous. But as it was expected, Mikel challenged him with his own evil glare. That always happened, Mikel pretended not to be afraid of him and challenged him in glares or verbally. To hear them argue was a constant thing and not surprising at all. The strange thing was, Lance seemed to trust him with his life and Mikel protected him with his life whenever he needed to, for all that they seemed to not like each other. Also, Mikel hadn't been asked to do so and Lance was too proud to claim he needed any protection.

Bardock was another thing. He didn't fight with Lance very often, when he did, it was odd. He wasn't exactly afraid of Lance, but he was weary of him. He also protected Lance whenever he needed protecting. The strange thing of their relationship was that Bardock seemed to have some influence over Lance and Mikel both.

As for Kent and Genma, they weren't sure where they stood with Lance. They could talk to him more freely than the other people on the team could, but that did not seem to be because of their rank. They could also shout at him or even laugh at him for any reason, but that didn't seem to be because of their rank either. There was just some sort of understanding between them that allowed them to behave that way. But all in all, Lance still scared the crap out of them.

While Mikel and Lance kept glaring at each other with evil smiles and with Bardock rolling his eyes at them, Genma looked around at the rest of his team mates.

Twenty other people were recruited in this small but powerful organization. Maybe not the best of their worlds and for some not the only ones who were called from one same world, each had a potential that would come out whenever it was needed and trained for that potential to show always on their faces and stances. Others hid them so as not to attract any unwanted attention until they decided to show what they were worth. All held their own abilities and techniques, each useful and unique to the organization. Some in the team were a surprise, yet you never truly knew a person until they decided to tell, and not even then.

Genma's gaze swept over all of their faces (Genma's heart skipped a beat when he saw Nodoka's beautiful one), some had on a face of dread, Juste looked positively sick. Genma smiled evilly at that, he didn't hate Justin, but this situation was his fault. Others, like that of Dracula, Blade, Ritsuko, Janduin and Setsuna, looked passive. Of course, Genma knew they were dreading the outcome like any sane person would. Well, a little bit sane. Genma was staring at Nodoka dreamily, when Lance finally spoke.

"So, tell me you good for nothing idiotic peace of shit, what are you doing here?" Lance said to Mikel through a fake evil looking smile and gritted teeth.

"You tell me you feminine looking worthless bitch. You gave the orders." Mikel responded in the same way. He glanced at were Justin stood, "And gave it to him."

"Don't call me that!" Lance ordered angrily.

"_You_ don't call me that!" Mikel yelled at him.

"I'll call you however the hell I want!" Lance yelled back.

"No you can't!!"

"Yes I _can_!!"

"_Can't!!!_"

"_Can!!!_"

"_Can't!!!_"

"_Can!!!_"

"Shut up, you're pissing me off!" Bardock cut in angrily. Mikel and Lance immediately shut themselves up; Lance gave Bardock a half resentful half glaring look. Odd.

Yep, that's how it went. Lance and Mikel lost all dignity whenever they were fighting in that sort of manner. It seemed impossible for anyone but them, that these composed looking men, threw dignity to the wind just to smash into a near by tree when they were fighting. Only Bardock could stop them from grabbing each other by the neck and rolling on the ground. Anyone else did that, and they might end up in the infirmary for their trouble. At least Lance was letting out his fury on Mikel.

It took just a few seconds for Lance to compose himself and then he rounded on Justin.

"So, Juste." Lance said calmly yet a bit dangerously.

"(Gulp) Yes Lance?" Juste answered shakily.

"How old are you?" Lance said.

"Sixteen."

"Oh." Was all he said while he started walking. He went up to him slowly looking at him with those wise and knowledgeable eyes of his. After a moment he said "So, you're old enough to be able to follow an order without anyone looking over your shoulder to see if you do it right. Right?"

"Y-yes." Juste answered starting to sweat.

"Oh." That was all that Lance said to him. He gave him a last look and a small mysterious smile, before walking away. He started pacing among the others looking at each in turn still with that smile on his face. Juste did not relax an inch, in fact, he looked even more afraid.

When passed by those whose faces were calm, he just smiled. Ritsuko raised a questioning eyebrow at him then frowned. Lance just gave her that smile and kept moving. When he paced among those whose faces were all of worry, he looked at them with the smile still in place. He looked at Laguna, then looked towards Laguna's partner and shook his head. Still with that damn smile. When he passed by Gwen and looked at her, his smile and eyes became a little different, she blushed. Genma thought he saw a small pleased smile on her face. No questions there, eh? He finally stopped in front of Kent and Genma, his smile back to what it had been before Gwen. He looked at them for a long time weighing them out, like he always did. Finally, after that long cursed silence, Lance spoke.

"Genma. Kent" he said.

"Lance." they both said at the same time.

"Could you scout around for me?" he asked nicely.

"Sure." Kent said with a questioning frown.

"Whatever gets me away from here right this moment, is fine with me." Genma said truthfully.

Lance smiled more broadly. "Good, come with me please." He started to walk away towards Bardock and Mikel.

Genma and Kent looked at each other confused. "I thought you wanted us to scout." Kent said.

"In a moment." Lance said with his back to them. The other two looked at each other again and shrugged then they followed. Reaching Bardock and Mikel, Lance stopped and looked at each in turn weighing them out like he did to the other two. After a while he nodded and looked toward the others to see if they weren't close enough to hear, then he looked around at their surroundings. Nothing but sand. "Have you felt something?" he asked without looking at them.

"Like what?" Mikel asked.

"You obviously haven't." Lance said looking towards Mikel with a glare.

"Specify man! I've felt a lot of things in this place!" Mikel retorted.

"Have you?!" Lance said angrily raising his eyebrows.

"Shut up, both of you! I have no time for this." Bardock cut in sharply. "Is it something you detected on the way here? Because I've been sensing something strange ever since we got here."

"Yeah, me too." Genma said honestly. "I just didn't say anything, because I was concentrating on not killing Juste." Kent affirmed the same and Mikel did the same still glaring at Lance.

"I thought you did." Lance said with a pointed look at Mikel. "The others probably did also, but I don't need to worry them right now, I need them here. Scout around for me. You find something weird, anything at all, you report directly to me, got it?!"

"Yes, sir!" they all said as one.

"Good. Now go!"

They all moved immediately in separate directions in a fast speed, Genma went west, alert for anything that might appear. The scenery didn't change except for a glimpse of a desert snake or some other animal. The rest were out of sight when Genma finally turned to look in their direction. Glancing around he didn't see anything but what he had already seen. It didn't look like he would find anything interesting to report, yet the feeling of something odd was still in the air, he wondered whether the other warriors had felt it. He stopped his movements to feel the sensation, trying to recognize it. Every enemy he had fought even before joining Lance in this mad organization, had had a distinct feel about him or her that told him certain things of his opponent. His father had said that it was the enemy's or a friend's aura that radiated the things Genma could feel, he had also said that a friend of his had called it chi and that it could tell how strong the person was.

But right now what Genma was feeling did not reveal anything at all to him, it just told that it was there, yet it was pulsing as if announcing itself. Whatever it was, wanted to taunt them and it was really annoying. Well he looked on the bright side; at least their little trip to the dessert wasn't a complete waste of time.

He kept on searching for whatever it was, hoping he would find it soon and get it over with. An hour passed, an hour and a half, nothing but sand, nothing but heat, nothing but hunger.

"Shit! I hate this place!" Genma was growing increasingly frustrated. He was usually patient. When he had food in his stomach that was. Well, he wasn't that patient even then, but he was usually when on a mission, he had learned from his father to keep calm whenever he was doing something, he had said that there was no use in getting impatient and screwing it up. But everything changed for Genma when he was hungry.

Swearing at Juste for screwing up, he didn't notice something was right in front of him when he suddenly tripped over it.

"Shimata! Genma pay more attention on where you're going next time, you bakka!" he told himself angrily.

Still cursing at himself he got up and cleaned his red shirt, black trench coat and pants, he then turned around to see what had tripped him. Whatever he thought might have been was soon forgotten when he saw what was lying there. The thing that had tripped him looked like a smooth rode of glimming white metal that was slightly curved, that was what he thought before he had seen that it was connected to something the size of a small elephant that was covered with sand which Genma had mistaken in his moment of frustration for a small mountain of it.

He got closer to inspect it and was suddenly hit by an overwhelming stench of death. Genma was trained to tolerate nasty sights or smells but he still couldn't help covering his nose and mouth with his hand. Trying to ignore the smell, he moved around the thing to see what it could be. It looked like a gigantic silvery leech with tentacles attached to it. It had no eyes that he could see and neither did it seem to have a mouth, Genma started to doubt it being some sort of creature but the smell told him differently yet there were no signs of rotting. Unless this thing was on top of whatever died. He looked around to see if there was anything else there that would help him figure it out. He didn't find anything.

He stood there, nose still covered, looking at the thing trying to decide what it could be. But after fifteen minutes of wondering, he decided to call Lance. Uncovering his mouth he placed it over the small intercom attached to his sleeve on his palm side.

"Lance, it's Genma, can you hear me?" He waited, there was no answer. "Lance, this is Genma, can you hear me or are you ignoring me 'cause you can't decide whether you should blow somebody's brains out?"

He heard a chuckle. "Yes, Genma I can hear you." Came Lance's reply. "What did you find?"

"Um… you better see this for yourself; all I can say is that it has a stench like Sirius without a bath." Genma said with a grin.

"What?!" came Sirius's indignant voice followed by shouts of laughter by the others.

"Alright." Lance chuckled. "Where are you?"

"I'm a thousand miles southwest."

"I'm coming."

That done, Genma decided to take a rest. He moved a little away from the thing so he wouldn't have to be so close to the smell, and sat down with a sigh. He had lost his appetite thanks to the smell, so he didn't have to worry about it. It was starting to get cold. Looking up at the sky he saw that the sun was almost ready to set. He wondered how long it would take Lance to get there. He sighed again. Sitting there, he started to think of Nodoka and ways of getting her to go out with him. He had discarded many that would probably get him killed, when he finally sensed movement behind him. Turning his head, he saw Lance approaching him with Kent, Mikel and Bardock at his heals. _Probably didn't find anything_, Genma thought with satisfaction.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Kent asked.

"And what the fuck is that smell?" Mikel asked with a disgusted face.

"Don't know." Lance said faintly his attention was mostly on the thing in front of him. He moved closer to it so he could have a better look, while the others staid were they were to give him space. Genma got up to join them. He stopped beside Bardock and turned to look at Lance examining whatever that thing was.

"So, do you know what it is kid?" Bardock asked Genma.

"If I did, I would have said something." Genma answered.

"Yeah, well, you are a bit slow witted sometimes Gen." Kent said calmly without looking at him.

"I am not!" Genma said heatedly at Kent.

"Yes you are." Kent said with a calm singsong tone.

"No I am not!"

"Yes you are."

"N…!"

"STOP IT!" Bardock yelled.

"But he called me slow witted!" Genma said childishly while glaring at a smirking Kent.

"I don't give a shi-… Did you feel that?" Bardock suddenly asked looking around for whatever it was.

"I did." Mikel said looking around too.

"So did I." Kent said, also searching.

"And me." Genma also said. This wasn't a lie, he had sensed something weird at exactly the same time Bardock was about to curse at them.

"What could it…"

"OH SHIT!" Lance yelled suddenly. He was staring at the thing with wide eyes.

"What is it?!" they all asked.

Lance didn't answer; instead he turned to look at them urgently. "You guys have to get out of here now!" There was no time to ask questions or to argue, because at that precise moment the earth started to shake and tentacles thicker than the ones on the ground started to shoot out from under them.

They were able to dodge them moving this way and that but wherever they stepped one came shooting out. Genma was a skilled fighter and was able to dodge easily. Trying to get rid of one, he sent out a kick, but when his foot collided with it, he felt his energy being sucked out of him. He fell to the ground, his back hitting the floor, all the air coming out of him.

"Don't let them touch you!" he heard Lance yell at them.

"NOW YOU TELL US!!" bellowed Mikel who obviously tried to do the same thing as Genma.

"Asha'man!" Lance called through the intercom, while Genma recovered his breath and dodged another tentacle just in time. "Asha'man, we need you! Come with my ship NOW!" Lance said while dodging.

Genma saw something at the corner of his eye and instinctively turned to see what it was, not noticing the tentacle that suddenly appeared, hitting him in the middle and sending him flying. He braced himself for the fall, preparing his body for the impact. But it never came. He kept on falling into something, he didn't know what.

"Genma! GENMA!" he heard Kent yell for him.

"You lose Hero of Kangen!" another voice said to him

There was laughter, then only darkness.


	3. Chapter 2 Waking to Torment

Ling Lin: Next chapter! Here everything will finally begin. Enjoy! By the way I DON'T OWN RANMA 1/2!!! I wish I did though (sigh) Oh well.

Chapter 2

File # 2

Waking to torment

_Night falls on the eve of battle: another point of No return. As "darkness crumbles away" into Daylight, here is the calm before the storm, a Time of hope and fear and of last-minute memories._

_--Unknown_

Nerima, Japan.

With a gasp, Genma Saotome woke up. Breathing hard, he stared up at the ceiling trying to remember where he was, who he was and why he was there.

_I am in Nerima, Japan, I'm staying at the house of my friend Soun Tendo and his daughters Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane. I am 41 years old and I'm married to Nodoka and I have a son with her named Ranma. I am here because I was in a training trip with my son and ended up engaging him with Soun's youngest daughter Akane._

The man known as Genma sat up in his bed remembering his present time. He was a bit disturbed of what he saw in his dream. He never thought he had to live through all that again, even if it was only a dream. It felt so real. He could still remember how much pain he had been in after that and the stench of that damn creature.

He looked beside him where Nodoka was curled up under the covers, still as beautiful since the day he met her. He hoped that she wasn't dreaming anything involving their past, it wasn't good to remember those times, especially the emotional pain that it brought in the end. All those good men and women they hadn't seen in years. Carefully trying to get out of bed without waking her, he went to the bathroom at the end of the hall. Reaching the sink, he washed his face, he grabbed a towel at his left and dried himself up.

Lowering the towel he looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. Nodoka was still her beautiful self even if aged, but Genma, his age showed on every angle. He was no longer that slim athletic and really handsome young man, now he was fat with no hair, he wore glasses and he was not handsome at all. He didn't seem fit for fighting and there was no sign that he was ever a man who attracted women's attention. It seemed impossible that a woman like Nodoka would have fallen for him since he wasn't very bright either. Of course that was what he wanted everyone to believe.

The truth was, it was a disguise. His physique, his attitude, all of it. Genma Saotome wasn't supposed to age that way and he was not stupid. In fact he was considered one of the best fighters both on the field and mentally, but he had to remember that his mental capacity wasn't the same and that he did do stupid things for some reason. It was as if something was preventing him from thinking straight most of the time. So maybe he was a bit stupid after all. He sighed. Only the name was truly his. He was hiding himself from a danger that he couldn't fight, he wasn't strong enough, and besides, what he was really protecting was his son, Ranma. He couldn't let those creatures that had attacked him so long ago find Ranma. They wanted him dead for reasons Genma hadn't told him. In fact, he hadn't told Ranma anything. He was born and raised without knowing anything of The Guardians, or as they had liked to call themselves, The Asha'man.

Genma stared into the mirror and saw himself change. His hair grew back, the wrinkles disappeared and his extra weight was gone. There stood Genma, the real Genma. He had transformed back to how he was supposed to have aged, looking more like his son, he looked young because of his smooth skin but his eyes said differently, they said exactly how old he was, odd as that was, there was something about him that didn't let the age show naturally, he didn't know what it was though. He transformed himself back to the way he was because he wanted to feel who he was again even if it was for a brief moment. He wasn't really used to seeing this figure in clothes that weren't black since that had been the Asha'man's uniform.

_Asha'man…I wonder if some of you still live._

The Asha'man. They had been a group of people, a small army in fact, that were trained to become protectors of worlds. They went through tough training in physical and mental fields. They needed to be perfect as warriors, know many things, be many things. They had to be willing to put their asses on the line for people they never met expecting nothing in return. It was a tough thing to do and striving for that sort of warrior perfection was a hard thing to achieve. Especially when the enemies you were supposed to face and beat the crap out of were getting more difficult to handle. But that was the price to keeping the inter-dimensional balance, the Asha'man's main goal. He had been hearing things that were happening in the world and many others, where the youths that were facing off the new evils were able to win by a hair. Others actually died after killing their opponent. For the Asha'man, that would only mean that they had to train harder and be better than before. That's if they hadn't died in the fight. But to join the group was not just simply sign up and start working, nope, you were chosen and then you were taken from your very own world into another, but the 'taking' wasn't something that you chose, you were just… takenThe organization had started a long time ago, it was a family thing where the leader was always of that blood and depending on the circumstances, the leader could be young or old, most commonly young. The organization could not be taken over by anyone else but the family line.

Genma doubted that it existed still. Oh, Lance had married Gwen and they had two children but Lance had died in a nasty fight with an enemy and Gwen had fallen ill and died. The remaining family survivor had been Lance's son and he had only been nine years old when it all happened. The boy had hidden himself in his room and in his father's lab for some reason before anything had happened. Extremely smart for his age he had also been really loud and demonic before that but something had changed him. Shortly after that, the tragedy with his family followed and because Genma and the others had been sent back to their worlds by force and without anyway of getting back there, none of them knew what had happened to young Casey Asha'man.

It was sad to think that also after being sent back, many of the others had died for different reasons. Among the deceased were his best friends Kent, Mikel and Bardock. And before them of course, his other best friend, Lance. He was sad for the other Asha'man of course, but those were the ones whose deaths had hit him really hard. He only knew that some people were dead but he didn't know if they had built up a family of some sort somewhere. How he knew they were dead was because the last person that he saw before he started a new life had ties with Lance's family. She had told him some things about the others but not much, and she had also told Genma to hide himself, but she didn't say anything else. So, that was why he was here now, trying to live a new life and trying to forget the other one he'd left behind. Not an easy thing to do.

"Ranma?" said a young female voice suddenly behind him. Genma almost jumped out of his skin; in fact he did just that transforming fast into the false Genma. He turned around to look at the girl rubbing her eyes sleepily trying to look at him. It was Akane, Ranma's fiancée. Akane was petit and pretty, with short black hair and black eyes. She was a sweet person but when pushed the wrong way she could have a really nasty temper. Ranma usually managed to do that which was the reason they were constantly fighting, but Genma was noticing that they were getting a long much better.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed she was there until she spoke, but luckily for Genma, Akane hadn't noticed the change because she said, "Oh, Mr. Saotome? I thought you were Ranma. I must be really sleepy still to have been wrong like that."

"Yeah, well, you never know what your eyes can tell you when they aren't working right." Genma said feeling relieved.

"Yes I suppose." Akane said. "Oh, I'm sorry for intruding, I'll wait outside."

"Don't bother, I'm done here. I'll be going now. Good night, Akane." He told her while he walked passed her.

"Good night Mr. Saotome." She said.

Genma walked down the hall feeling his heart still racing. That had been a close one, he couldn't let anyone see him in that form again, especially if they were going to talk to him as if he was Ranma, if they anyone got a closer look, he would be in trouble. He didn't go to bed, he wouldn't be able to sleep if he did anyway, so he wandered the halls thinking and wondering about many things. He didn't notice where he was going until he was standing in front of the sliding doors that led into the dojo where Ranma was sleeping. He just stood there for a while then he reached one hand out to grab the door and slide it open. He stepped inside quietly, slowly looking for Ranma in the dark. He found him in the middle of the dojo sleeping calmly. Genma couldn't help but stand there looking at his son, his awesome son, and regret the life he had given him. Ranma wasn't unhappy -not that he knew of- but Genma knew about all the problems that he suffered and the things he had to do so as to not get himself hurt. And especially his almost double life he had to carry because of some stupid blunder that Genma was to be blamed for. Why did he have to take him to Jusenkyo? It almost destroyed Ranma's life. Now poor Ranma Saotome had to shy away from cold water because if he didn't he would turn into a freakin' GIRL!

Genma realized that he was clenching his fists in anger, he tried to relax and loosen his hands, but he soon clenched them again when he remembered that damned day. Genma's sudden act of stupidity caused his brain to actually collapse back then. Genma had taken Ranma away from his home and his mother when he was very young so he could train him in the martial arts. It had been a couple of years ago, when Genma took Ranma to Junsekyo located in China. He had heard that the place was a good training ground. They had met a guide there who told them stories about the place. Jusenkyo was a vast area with many small ponds with long bamboo sticks rising upward in the middle of each one. The guide had told them that in each one of those ponds, an animal or a human had died cursing its water. Genma and Ranma weren't listening to him and both jumped on the ends of the bamboo sticks with one foot and started to spar jumping from one bamboo stick to another without falling. The guide was urging them to stop and come down, but they weren't paying attention. Suddenly, Ranma jumped to hit his father with his feet causing Genma to lose balance and fall into one of the ponds. Ranma was laughing when suddenly a huge panda came out of the water and stood on one of the poles. While Ranma was freaking out, the guide was telling him that in the pond that his father had fallen in, a panda had drowned, so any one who fell into it would transform into a panda. Ranma, distracted, was attacked by Genma panda and was thrown into another pond. Coming out, Ranma had red hair and a feminine body, the guide told them the same thing except that the pond was where a redheaded girl had drowned. Since then, Genma and Ranma turned into those forms every time cold water hit them and turned back with hot water.

It was alright for Genma because he was just a panda, but Ranma had all sorts of problems by turning into a girl. There was this stupid guy called Kuno Tatewaki, who had fallen in love with Ranma's girl form and refused to believe he was actually a guy, Kuno's sister, Kodachi, had fallen in love with Ranma's real form and refused to believe that Ranma had a girl form. Both were crazy as hell. There was also this Chinese Amazon girl named Shampoo, who shortly after Ranma had first transformed into a girl, had wanted to kill Ranma girl because he had eaten her prize, Ranma defeated her in his girl form and Shampoo got really angry not knowing he was really a guy. She followed him to Japan to kill him. But she then found out that he was a guy, and fell in love with him because in the Amazon culture, if a man defeated a woman, he was a worthy husband. Also there was Mousse, who was in love with Shampoo and hated Ranma because Shampoo loved him and not Mousse. There was Hibiki Ryouga, Ranma's true rival, who had followed him to China and fell into the pond of the drowned pig because Ranma had unknowingly jumped on him and thrown him in. Now Ryoga wanted to defeat him more than ever and also fight Ranma for Akane's love, just like Kuno did, reason why Kuno hated Ranma's guy form. And there was Ukyo who also had fallen in love with Ranma and would do anything to get him in disregard to his feelings, just like Shampoo and Kodachi did.

There were so many problems, that it would take forever to list, mainly because Genma had caused it, like Ranma's phobia of cat's, or his engagement to Akane against both their wills. Not to mention he was engaged to other women he hadn't known about until those particular girls showed up not including the self proclaimed fiancés that were Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi. Poor Ranma called them friends, even though those people wanted to marry him against his will or kill him. He was a good person who didn't hate easily; he just had a problem of opening his mouth and putting his foot in it. He tried his best to live on, even with that curse, but it seemed impossible. Almost everyday Ranma had a new problem, new enemies, new things to add to his list of problems. But he lived on. Genma admired his son's strength and couldn't stand it that Ranma didn't show all of his feelings. Ranma always would just frown, make a disturbed face or simply smile, keeping everything else inside. Genma just wished he could help him, but all he could do was sit on the sidelines and watch. At least he protected him from an even bigger danger, a danger Ranma wasn't ready to face.

Genma moved silently closer to Ranma's sleeping form. He looked down at him with sad eyes and transformed back to his real self. He wanted to see Ranma through his real eyes. He sat down beside him and brushed away the bangs that were on his son's face. "I love you son, I will do everything in my power to protect you. I'm sorry for everything that I've done to you. I just wish you knew that, I wish that there was more that I could do." Genma closed his eyes unable to look at his son's face, " I hope you can forgive me one day for…everything."

He sat there until morning and when Ranma stirred and opened his eyes, Genma, disappeared.

Ling-Lin: FIN! Oh my God I finally finished this chapter! I can't believe I had it sitting there so long.

_Athan: Hello, this is Ling-Lin's brother and beta reader Athan Mortis. I hope you've enjoyed the story. I worked very hard to make this story even remotely readable. So I hope you appreciate the effort that went into this. _

Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.   
--Will Rogers (1879 - 1935) _Bye!_


	4. Chapter 3 Something's wrong

Ling-Lin: Ladies and gentlemen, I got an announcement to make. When I first thought of this story, I thought of it as a Ranma/Akane thing. And it still is. BUT there isn't that much romance going on. In fact I'm not sure if there is going to be any. But if there is, I'll warn you. In other words I'm saying that all the Ranma/Akane haters out there won't suffer from anything and that I WILL warn you if anything is coming. Also if I decide to write a small romance chapter with them you don't have to read it I promise you won't miss a thing. Besides Ranma is not my only main character. There are others and the romance part will be left to one of them. So please enjoy. You won't die from it. I promise.

Chapter 3

File # 3

Something is wrong

_Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. _

_--English Proverb _

Nerima, Japan

Saotome Ranma felt a presence beside him as he slept. Yet, when he opened his eyes and looked, there was no one there. _Odd, maybe I was just dreaming it._ Speaking of dreams, he had a strange one before he woke.

dream

He stood in the middle of a field dotted with red flowers he had never seen before. Upon further inspection of them, he could see the flowers were burning in a peaceful sort of way. It seemed impossible for Ranma to stand in the middle of them and not get burned, he knew he was in a dream somehow, but it still seemed odd. Ranma had looked around the field of burning flowers searching for some other type of life. He didn't see any. Instead he found himself staring up the most beautiful tree he had ever seen, he wasn't much of a nature boy, but he couldn't help feeling in awe of this awesome tree. It was hard to describe, but what could be said of it was that it had red coloring like apples growing on its branches. That's what he thought before he got close enough to see what they were. They were _rubies, _actual rubies. Stunned, Ranma looked closer and saw that the rubies seemed to have fire inside.

"Where am I?" He gasped.

"You're in my place." answered an unexpected voice

Ranma jumped in fright and grabbed the tree's trunk like a cat. He looked where the voice had come from. Sitting on a boulder was a man. He looked young, but he had an aura that indicated that there was more than what the eye could see. Ranma could not help staring at the man, well, it was hard not to with the way this seemingly young person looked. He had red eyes, as in red completely, no white to be seen. His long hair tied in a ponytail was like fire, blue on the roots, then turning green, then yellow, then orange and finally red. His skin was tan and he wore an odd sort of mix of armor with interesting details, his physique was about the same as Ranma's. He was smiling at Ranma in a mischievous sort of way.

"Wh-who are you?" he asked.

"Someone." Was the answer.

"What, no name?" Ranma asked annoyed

"I do have one, but I don't think you need it yet." The young man said

"Feh, then don't bother asking mine then, because I'm not giving it!" Ranma told him getting off the tree.

"I don't need to. I already know your name." he told him simply.

"How come?" Ranma asked surprised yet defiantly.

"Well, I know you since before you were even thought of."

"What? What are you talking about! You're just trying to confuse me!"

"That's not really hard now, is it?"

"HEY!!" Ranma clenched his fists and glared at the stranger.

The fiery young man laughed a fun laugh. He looked at Ranma's angry face with amusement and… _is that fondness?_ Ranma thought freaking out. The other man noticing this, laughed again. He shook his head still chuckling and stood up. He walked towards Ranma and the other moved back.

"Relax Ranma, I'm not going to do anything…odd" he chuckled. "I have a wife anyway and you're not my type besides." The man laughed again at Ranma's face, harder this time. "You have way too many suitors to your male _and_ female form to add me to your list. No no, I just wanted to meet you before all of it started again."

"Started? Again? What are you talking about?" Ranma was now really feeling confused. _How does he know about my curse?_ _And my name._

"You'll see." The man said. He turned around and started to walk away from Ranma.

"Hey! Wait! Who are you? At least give me a clue. Are you real? Do you really exist? What's going to happen?" Ranma bombarded him with questions.

The young man turned his head to look at Ranma with one red eye. "I am someone who watches over you. If you want a clue I'll give the words 'fire' and 'skill'. Yes, I am real, I do exist. But I am not seen often in the flesh. You will find me someday or I will find you." With that, he disappeared.

end of dream

Ranma laid there thinking of what the man had said and the clues that he gave him. _Fire and skill? How am I supposed to know anything with that?_ He kept thinking about it when his stomach growled. He then decided to get up and go eat breakfast. For the thousand time Ranma was glad he could go eat breakfast with his mother there without having to change into a girl. He used to have to do that all the time since his mother came to Nerima one day and didn't know of Ranma's or his father's curse.

It was a stupid thing really. For some reason his crazy ass parents decided when he was around four years old, to sign a contract saying that if Saotome Genma did not make their son a man among men when Ranma was of an age, then he and Genma would have to commit suicide. So when his mother finally caught up to them in Nerima with a katana, he and his father had to hide behind their curse, since Ranma's curse didn't exactly allow him to be 'a man among men'. It was really kind of frustrating having your mother, who you hadn't really known, right there and not be able to do a damn thing about it.

It was some sort of miracle, when his mother finally found out about it, she had also known about his 'fiancés'. That of course made Nodoka think that her son was a man among men and that there was no reason to commit seppuku. If only his 'fiancés' hadn't destroyed his mother's house, then he would have been living somewhere that wasn't in the Tondou's house. Oh well, it wasn't like he wasn't used to it anyway.

Getting to the dinning area, Ranma was greeted by the cheerful good morning and smile of his mother, the off hand good morning from Nabiki reading, the polite one from Kasumi who was serving, the grunt from Mr. Tendo reading the paper and the usual but not so hated anymore "good morning bakka" from Akane. It was something she just said out of habit, but they really didn't hate each other like they used to. Not that they didn't fight anymore, it was just not so constant. Ranma sat on his usual place and noticed for the first time that his father wasn't there.

"Hey, where's pops?" he asked.

"Oh, he just went outside for a walk." His mother answered him.

"Before breakfast?! For what?" Ranma asked again.

"He said he needed to clear his head." Nodoka answered.

"Why?" Akane asked. "That's odd of him, especially before breakfast."

"True." Said Kasumi, while she handed out the meal. "Hope he's feeling alright." She continued worriedly.

"I'm sure he's fine." Soun said to his daughter reaching out to get the bowl she handed to him. "Besides, I doubt he's not going to come back to eat breakfast. He is Genma after all." He finished with a chuckle, but Ranma could see that he was kind of worried. He turned to look at his mother and saw that she was also worried. Something was up.

The rest of breakfast was eaten in silence, everyone thinking of their own things. Ranma was thinking of the young man in his dream when he was interrupted by Akane telling him to get ready fast or they were going to be late for school. He had no choice but to swallow the rest of his food up and run upstairs to take a shower and get ready. When he was finally done, they were already running late and there was still no sign of Genma.

"Ah! Ranma! Why is it that you always make us late?!" Akane scorned Ranma while she ran as fast as she could towards school.

"Well, if someone would wake me up, then I would probably get ready in time!" Ranma threw back at her while he also ran on top of the fence on the side of the road.

"Get an alarm clock!"

"I don't feel like it!"

"Ranmaaaaa!"

"Akaneeeee!" he mimicked her with her own name.

They kept running sending occasional remarks to each other. Ranma in one brief moment of silence saw something that caught his attention and made him stop. At the distance he saw someone dressed completely in a black coat and hooded. The figure was standing on something that he couldn't make out, whoever it was also seemed to be looking his way. Ranma thought the figure smiled at him and then disappeared. Staring at the spot where the person had been standing, he wondered if he didn't just imagine it, he was still kind of sleepy.

"Ranma, what are you doing? We are already late as it is!" Akane called out to him. Seeing his stunned face she frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Didn't…didn't you see that?" Ranma asked still staring at the place.

"See what, Ranma?" Akane asked him in return turning to look at where Ranma was staring.

"Uh…nothing. Never mind. Let's go."

"Okay." Akane said. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, let's go."

Five minutes later, they finally got to school, it was just in time since the bell rang just as they got there. Sitting in class, Ranma wasn't paying attention, not that that was a new thing. He was looking out the window wondering whether he had imagined it or not. Stranger things had happened to him before, but still, it didn't stop from being surprising. He kept looking out the window and failed to dodge the board's eraser coming towards him thrown by his teacher Miss Hinako.

"Pay attention Saotome!"

During lunch break, Ranma decided to sit with Akane who, strangely, was eating with Ukyo. They were talking passively as if they were best friends or something. Ukyo and Akane occasionally talked to him, but he was otherwise all but invisible. Odd from Ukyo. He was so bored. He had nothing to do but sit there and daydream of being asleep in his bed. Then at the entrance of the school, Ranma saw a familiar figure.

"Ha! That baka seems to have found his way back or should I say _lost_ his way back." Ranma said amused.

"Are you talking about Ryouga?" Ukyo said turning around to look. Sure enough, it was Ryouga. He had spotted them and was coming towards them.

"Hey, Akane." Ryouga said smiling warmly at her. "Hello Ukyo." He said with another nice smile. "Ranma." He said simply at him.

"Hello Ryouga! It's so nice to see you!" Akane said happily.

"Yeah, care to join us." Ukyo said with another smile towards him. For some reason Ranma always thought they made a good couple. Too bad they were too fixated on him or Akane to notice it.

"Hey P-chan! Long time no see!" Ranma said mockingly to Ryouga.

"Who's P-chan?" Ryouga said coldly and with a glare.

"Yeah, who is P-chan? I always wondered." Ranma continued to bother with an annoying smile towards Ryouga.

"Ranma, what on earth are you talking about?" Akane said frowning at Ranma.

"Nothing, nothing." Ranma said still smiling at Ryouga who was still glaring.

It seemed to Ranma that the day was going fast or was somehow being cut, since after that the conversation changed to something else and he also noticed suddenly that upperclassman Kuno was there out of no where trying to convince Akane to go out on a date with him with his usual Shakespearian annoyance. Then he saw that Shampoo was there with Mousse delivering some food to someone in the school. Suddenly they were also standing in the same place they were. It occurred to Ranma that they had said something to him, but he couldn't recall what that was. There was Happosai running away from the girls room with he's usual stolen panties bag on his back. Kodachi was also there looking for her brother and had obviously spotted Ranma. She seemed to have said something to him but he couldn't hear what it was.

_What's going on? Why is everything going so fast? Why is everyone gathering here where I am? Why do I feel something's wrong? I can't hear anything. Are they talking to me? Am I answering? Why can't I hear anything? WHAT'S GOING ON?!!! _

Suddenly, Ranma saw him. Or her? Whoever it was! The same person in black that he had seen earlier. That person was standing in the middle of the place looking at him, this time he was sure that whoever it was, was smiling at him. He or she looked towards the people standing around Ranma and shook his or her head. Ranma knew that something was definitely wrong. The day was a strange one and it was not going on normally. Something was definitely not right.

"Ranma? Ranma! Ranma what's going on?!"

"Are you alright?"

"Hey, man. Wake up! What's up with you?

"Are you sick? You need anything?"

"HEY! RANMA! WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU?!!!" yelled Ryouga slapping Ranma's face.

Ranma finally reacted to the voices. It seemed whatever temporary deafness had come over him was gone. And so was the figure in black. _What the hell?_

"Hey, Ranma!" Ryouga said again noticing that Ranma had finally heard him. "What is it?"

Ranma turned his head to look at the people gathered around him. They were all looking at him with questioning frowns or worried faces. Ryouga crouching right in front of him was looking at him waiting for an answer.

"Wha-what happened?" Ranma directed his question at Ryouga.

"We were all talking to you and you didn't answer any of us." Ryouga told him "You were just staring into space with a weird expression on your face."

"You looked freaked." Mousse said. "Like you'd seen a ghost or something."

"You look too pale!" Shampoo said, her face looked afraid.

"Did you see something Saotome?" Kuno asked him

_Is it me or are they actually being nice? _"I-I saw a-a person, all dressed in black. He or she was looking at me. Whoever it was gave me the feeling that he knew something I didn't. I couldn't hear nothing. I felt…lost. Like I was missing something." He said. He looked at everyone who turned to look at each other or where Ranma had been staring off to. Ryouga frowned at him.

"Do you think it's another one of those guys who you pissed off in the past and now is looking for revenge?" he asked Ranma.

"I doubt I would forget that I made someone like that mad. I mean honestly, something like that is not a thing that even I would forget." Ranma stood up. "I saw him –or her- on the way here. He was standing on something I couldn't make out." He looked at the others.

"Maybe it's just another one of those guys who wants to bother us again and chose you as his or her focal point." Ukyo said with a shrug. "Whoever it is I'm sure we'll beat him up like always."

"Hahahahaha!" Kodachi gave her usual laugh "That is true! But it will be my darling Ranma who gives the last hit!"

"How do you know that sister!" Kuno said. "I, the great Tatewaki Kuno could be the one who gives the last hit!"

"Keep dreaming you jackass!" Ryouga scorned him.

"Don't talk to me that way! You fool!"

"I talk to you however the hell I want!"

Ranma ignored the fight from the rest of his 'friends' and looked back at where he saw the cloaked being. Whatever it was, it was really getting him nervous. The usual enemies he had weren't like this. They didn't just show up and scare the crap out of him. He wondered whether this had something to do with his dream. It all started with it after all.

"So what do you think Ranma?" Akane asked standing beside him.

"I don't know, what I do know that this day is weird." He answered

"What do you mean weird?" Akane asked again

"Well, first I wake up and I remember this weird dream I had. Then pops goes out for a 'walk' before he eats anything, after that I saw that same weird…guy, appear when we were running to school. Then I remember sitting in class and suddenly I'm not sitting in class, I'm in lunch break. Then these guys," he turns around to look at his 'friends' that had stopped fighting and were now listening to Ranma, "just suddenly come together in this particular place where I happen to be. The day is not moving normally."

"Since when is your life ever normal Ranma?" said Nabiki who saw them all standing there and decided to see what was going on.

"Now ain't that something to boost my mood up." Ranma said glaring slightly at Nabiki.

"Sorry hun, it's just true." She said matter-of-factly.

"So, now what?" Mousse said. "You going to investigate or something Saotome?"

"Ha! Investigate? Why the hell would I do that? It's going to come right at me, I look for it or not. It's just how life likes being a bitch with me. Anyways, I'm too tiered right now." Ranma said punctuating his statement with a yawn.

"Tiered from what? You slept like a log Ranma, and woke up late, for that matter." Akane said.

"I don't know I feel like I didn't sleep at all." Ranma said.

"Well, you better wake up, it's coming for you." Said a voice from behind the group. It had a deep British accent and was definitely male. They all turned fast and were in their fighting positions in a hart beat.

It was the cloaked figure, he was standing not far from them looking at them calmly as if they were just looking at him normally. His face was still covered by his hood and he had a presence about him that radiated danger. All that they could make out of his appearance besides what he wore, was that he was probably athletic since the coat wasn't exactly loose nor was it too tight either.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Ranma said angrily in his fighting position. "I can hit you now and make you wish you never messed with my day."

"You can try. But all that you'll get will be a headache and a bruise since you'll be sailing right through me. You see I'm not really here, if I was, I would actually try and help you." The man said.

"Help? From what?" Ranma asked. _God I seem to be asking too many questions lately. _ The man smiled slightly and shook his head.

"It's coming for you."

Ling-Lin: Done! Hoped you liked it and I also hope that it wasn't a bit rushed. Anyways, next chapter will finally have some action. But I'm warning you, I'm not sure whether my writing battle scenes are any good.


	5. Chapter 4 Death

FINALLY!!! CHAPTER # 4 IS UP!!! Sorry it took so long for those of you who are actually reading this. I had asked my brother to write a part for me and he never did and it took forever for me to finally just do it myself. I've even finished chapter 5 and 6. I'll get them up here after I check them for the thirtieth time each. I might upload this one with a better version later.

I warn you, this chapter is kinda weird, there is a fighting scene that sucks and an ending that also sucks. Feh, doesn't matter. I'll get better as I go. Hope its good enough though. Enjoy!

000

Chapter 4

File # 4

_Live in the now, with whoever you can_

_Never let the future disturb yo__u. You will meet it, if you have to, with_

_The same weapons of reason which_

_Today arm you against the present_

_-- Marcus Aurelius_

"It's coming for you."

Ranma stood there stunned. He couldn't help but stare at this odd stranger. The man had said that twice and never explained what he meant. What was coming for him? Why? Suddenly, and for no reason, Ranma felt a strong feeling of loss and despair. He felt alone. Something was missing. But what? He looked at the people beside him. Would they help him if he needed them? What was missing? He wasn't sure of them. The women, they never did do anything good for him except when they were trying to win him over like some sort of prize. Did they really love him or was it just an obsession? And the men, the only reasons they would help him was because they wanted to be the ones to defeat him or for their own gain or to attract a girl or whatever other stupid and unfair reason. Nothing else. So, why should he trust them? Akane, why should he trust her? She hated men, didn't she? So why…?

His head went blank. There was nothing. Then… images of… people… sailed through his mind. He couldn't make them out. But they were there. He felt happy. He knew them but… who were they? There were four particular unrecognizable images that made him feel… whole.

There was a loud shrieking noise from behind them. The others turned around swiftly just as the people started to panic. Ranma never noticed. He was too focused on the images that kept coming into his head. Everything else was un-existent; the world went by in slow motion all around him. The images kept coming, faster and faster making him feel dizzy. Then they suddenly stopped on a particular one. This one had movement, the image was blurry but he could make out a body dressed in green moving towards a building, he saw something that resembled towers. Maybe a castle? The figure stopped and looked around and looked at Ranma or so it felt. The face was another blur yet the person's eyes were very clear, they were a deep blue, he could see so many emotions, stories, behind them. The image changed to another also moving, this time the body that he saw was dressed in black, it was moving fast on a motorcycle, it suddenly skidded to a stop and looked up at Ranma, the face was also a blur and this time it's eyes were a light greenish blue. These eyes also had so many things going on in them. The image changed again. This time, the body that he saw wore a reddish orange outfit, its movements gave Ranma the impression of someone training. It stopped and stood there with it's face down, after a short moment, it raised it's head and looked at him. Another blurred face, eyes black, but these eyes gave a direct feeling of kindness and strength yet so many things still hid themselves in them. Yet again, the image changed. The figure was sitting still on the steps of a huge place, it was dressed completely in black but a hint of green could be seen in the front, his shirt maybe? It seemed to be thinking. Finally it looked up at Ranma. Blurred face again, half blue and half green eyes looked at him calmly while the others had looked at him in question. There was so much turmoil in them. It looked at him longer than the rest, but after a while, the eyes closed and all went white.

"Wake up."

"What?"

"Your friends need you."

The whiteness disappeared, sound started to return and time was beginning to move normally. Ranma was once again aware of everything around him. He looked up at the place where the stranger was and noticed that he wasn't there anymore. He finally paid attention to the panicked screams that were behind him and turned to look at what the commotion was about. He couldn't stop the gasp that came out of him at the sight of what was right there in front of him. He had never seen anything like it. His friends or (so he called them) were all standing there stunned staring up at a creature that seemed to have come out of someone's nightmare. It was huge, it had glossy white skin, no eyes and it's mouth was stitched shut like a scare-crow's. It had a slim body, long legs and arms, with hands finishing in long pointy fingers. On it's back it had tentacles in place of wings and it was levitating.

"What the hell is that?!" Ryouga finally asked.

"SAOTOME!!!" the creature blasted into their minds.

"I don't know." Ranma answered "But the man was right. It's coming for me.

000

Genma ran and jumped from rooftop to rooftop as fast as he could toward Furinkan High. He sensed something in that direction and it was nothing good. At this hour, Ranma and the other kids were not out of school yet, so Genma knew that whatever it was, had to be looking for his son. If his suspicions of what it was were correct, then Ranma was in incredible danger.

Genma had gone outside for a walk in the morning and ended up spending hours by the lake, looking into it but not really seeing. There was something wrong, he just knew it. Someone had warned him last night with the dream and it seemed to be happening right now. He decided that his bulk was making him go too slow, so he transformed. He had to hurry or something extremely bad was about to happen.

000

"Hurry, Soun!"

"I am, I am!"

Nodoka and Soun had run out of the house a few minutes ago and started running full speed towards Ranma and Akane's school. Nodoka had sensed something horrible there and she wasn't about to just sit there idly around waiting anxiously for something to happen. She was a warrior, she had to do something! Soun, knowing very well to trust Nodoka or Genma with this sort of thing, heeded her warning and set out with her to help. Although, he wasn't sure if he was going to be of much help.

"What - do you – think - it is?" Soun panted.

"I'm not sure!" Nodoka answered from ahead. She just hoped that her husband was there to help the kids.

000

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"SHIT!"

"ow"

"HELP MEEEEE!!!"

"Owwww…..I need a band aid"

"I need… someone… to… kill… me… NOW!"

It was not looking good for the Nerima Wrecking Crew. They were all on the floor with nasty wounds and bruises. The creature had attacked right after Ranma's statement with one ugly tentacle going towards him. The rest of the 'team' reacted instantly moving to attack it just as he got out of the creatures way in his usual catlike grace. The fight had barely started and the Nerima fighters were already losing. They had tried to attack it at the same time from different sides, but the thing was extremely fast and dodged every attack easily. Since then they had been going at it for 5 minutes.

Ranma got up from his position on the floor and jumped high into the creatures face and attacked it with his Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken (A/N Roasting Chestnuts in the Fire Fist attack). It seemed impossible that something so big could move in such speed, it dodged every one of his punches without breaking a sweat (or so to speak). The creature grabbed Ranma by one of his legs and lifted him up over it's head, preparing to slam him into the ground, but it's momentum was stopped by Ukyou's spatula hitting it blade first into it's middle. The creature screeched through it's stitches and dropped Ranma. He regained himself in mid air and fell on his feet just like a cat. He looked towards Ukyou and saw, to his surprise that she wasn't rushing towards him to see if he was okay. Instead she was glaring fiercely at the creature in front of them.

Meanwhile, the creature was fending off one of Mousse's huge metal balls attached to a chain that had been heading for its head while Kuno tried to crush one of its knees with his bocken, but was kicked with an incredible force and, taking Mousse with him, was slammed into the school's wall. Then it was Shampoo's turn to attack. She went towards its middle attempting to hit it with everything she had with her Bombori, she didn't hit it, instead she went souring past it and the creature used this opportunity to use one of its knees to hit her right in the stomach. She fell to the ground and writhed choking for air. Kodachi took her place and used her gymnastic ribbons to try and tie the creature down, but as you probably guessed, it didn't work. The thing easily ripped them apart and grabbed her by the waist then threw her at Akane who had rushed over to help Shampoo. Akane screamed when Kodachi fell on her. They recovered soon enough both rubbing their sore spots.

"It's no use! It's too strong!" Kodachi said exasperated.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?!!!" Kuno yelled at his sister as he dodged another tentacle.

All the others, recovered and determined, rushed at the creature at the same time hoping to over power it. It was no use, the creature easily fended them off hitting each one real hard. It was about to do something worse to one of them when suddenly there was a blast of red light hitting it on the face, the creature screeched in pain. Ryouga took the opportunity to run towards it and send a flying kick on its face. Arguably, the most effective attack that any had given it. But it still wasn't enough. Seconds later, the creature stood from where it had been thrown and started to hover above them.

000

On the sidelines, the cloaked man stood observing the fighter's progress. He especially observed Ranma. He was interested in seeing whether his doubts of the others would affect how he fought. And indeed they did. Ranma never bothered to protect the others like he would have before. He only wanted to kill the creature, save his own skin. The man also paid close attention to Ryouga. So far, he was the only one who had done any real damage to the thing. It was to be expected from someone like him. _He_ protected the others. Even they protected each other.

The man watched as each fighter gave their own series of attacks, none being very successful. Finally Ranma decided to use his Moko Takabisha. It did something to it but not enough. He wasn't concentrating, obviously, or he would have done some more damage. Not a good idea to get distracted while some foul creature was trying to kill him. But, oh well, what could he do about it now.

"SAOTOME!!!"

Amazing how the creature could make so much noise while not saying a word. It was annoying. He felt the urge to fight, but he knew that he couldn't considering that he wasn't actually there. Besides, this was Ranma's fight not his. The man saw how the creature lifted Ranma, Mousse and Ryouga from one leg and then slam them on the ground. Ouch. That must have hurt. Good thing they had a hard heads. The creature then turned its full attention to Mousse and Ryouga who had fallen to in the same place. Well, he had a feeling this was going to end soon.

000

Ranma got up again shaking his head to clear the dizziness, when the creature attacked with one of its tentacles, yet it seemed a little bit of an offhand attack coming from it. As Ranma dodged, he noticed from the corner of his eye the creature's true focus. It was Ryouga and Mousse. They had fallen next to each other and where unsteadily getting up, unaware that the creature was looking towards them with two pointy tentacles in their direction. It was quite evident that the two would not dodge in time and judging by the incredible feel of killing intent, they would not survive the attack. As Ranma pondered this, the creature attacked. In that moment, Ranma's world seemed to slow. He saw as the tentacles were slowly advancing on the two and how the men were still oblivious to it. He saw that the other people who were fighting had noticed this and were yelling at them to get out of the way, some had started to run towards them or at the creature itself to stop it. Ryouga and Mousse slowly raised their heads and soon their faces turned from pain to horror.

Ranma stood there looking towards the scene with a mixture of not knowing what to do and not wanting to do anything. But then it hit him. Why was he NOT doing anything, they were his friends. The fact that Mousse desperately wanted to beat him was to get Shampoo to like him instead of Ranma, and quite frankly Ranma wasn't going to complain about it. That union made better sense to him than if he ended up with her. And, besides, Mousse hadn't really been a horrible person towards him. Actually, he felt kind of sorry for Mousse with all the misery he had to go through and all those disappointments. All the others weren't that bad either when in the rare but welcomed occasions they would forget their differences and fights and just hang out. Ryouga more specifically, was one who had changed becoming more his friend. True, they still fought a bit, but Ryouga had proven many times before, that he would risk his life for him. So had Ranma.

All this went through Ranma's head in a matter of seconds. As everything went back to normal and Ryouga and Mousse were about to see their last moments on earth, Ranma moved. He moved so fast that the others didn't realize what had happened until everything had settled down. Ranma had moved towards the 'line of fire' and pushed Mousse and Ryouga out of the way as the tentacles hit him instead. They went through between his chest and stomach and had impaled him against the tree behind him. They creature didn't have time to relish in his victory, because Ranma, with his last ounce of strength, had sent a powerful Moko Takabisha towards it. The creature had screeched in pain and had fallen dead on the ground.

The others were in shock. Yet it lasted only a moment as Akane's patronizing scream brought them back to their senses. They all looked to the reason of the scream and saw the most horrible scene any had ever witnessed. There, staked in between the tree and the creatures' still inserted tentacles, with his legs dangling, was Ranma. Blood covered his chest in where he had coughed it up and more was creating a red pool under him from the horrible wounds. He was still alive, but barely, trying to breathe in some air in painful gasps. Akane was running to him and so was Ryouga who had finally reacted and got up from the floor. The others soon did the same and ran towards Ranma. The students who had been hiding inside the school, noticing the fight was over, slowly made their way outside to look at the outcome. Ryouga reached Ranma first, and knowing that if he pulled the tentacles out from him would only kill him faster, instead used one of his bandanas, turning it solid and cutting the tentacles. Ranma still had part of them through him but Ryouga was now able to get him down. The student's gasped and some of the girls screamed when they noticed Ranma. Nabiki was running to them but stopped and stared in horror when she was close enough to see. The Nerima Wrecking Crew were around Ranma panicking. Ukyou started to frantically yell for someone to call an ambulance. Kodachi started sobbing uncontrollably . Kuno was staring, face white. Shampoo started to cry. Mousse was very white in the face and looked like he was about to faint. Akane was by Ranma's side crying loudly and Ryouga was holding Ranma, eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Gome…nasai." Ranma gasped out. "I wasn't… fast... enough"

"It's alright Ranma. Everything will be alright. Okay?" Ryouga was telling him trying to remain calm but failing slightly with his voice shaking. The others stood on the sidelines not knowing what to do. "Just hold on."

"I didn't… want you… to-to…gasp… d-die." Ranma tried to explain himself.

"I…" Ryouga swallowed not knowing what to say, "Why, Ranma? Why did you…" he choked.

"Why… not? Y-you…r… my… nakama."

"Nakama?" Ryouga sobbed faintly as he said it, a lone tear fell down his cheek. "You think of me as nakama?"

"H-hai…"

"R-Ranma, w-why…." Mousse said tears finally falling.

"H-Hey… M-Mousse."

"Ranma, don't talk. Save your strength, alright? Just hang on, the ambulance will be here soon." Ryouga said just as ambulance sirens could be heard coming down the street. "See? They're coming."

"RANMA!!!" a voice screamed from the entrance. It was Nodoka with Soun running towards them. She stopped and knelt beside her son next to Akane. "Ranma! No! Oh my God!"

"Hey mom…" Ranma whispered into the silence that had engulfed them all. His eyes starting to close. "I'm sorry… I wasn't… able to… spend… more time… with you."

"NO! NO! RANMA STAY WITH US!!!" Mousse yelled.

"THE AMBULANCE IS COMING!!!" Ukyou cried out frantically.

"DON'T DIE!!!" Shampoo added.

"C'MON RANMA!" said Kuno, finally using Ranma's name for the first time.

"PLEASE!" Kodachi begged.

"Ranma…" Akane choked. "Please stay with us. Please!"

"My son…" Nodoka sobbed caressing Ranma's hair.

"C'mon boy… hold on." Soun said sadly to him.

"Ranma, please?" Ryouga said still holding him.

Ranma smiled at them with his eyes closed glad to know they cared. With his last breath he said:

"Arigatou."

000

See, told ya the ending sucked and the fighting scene is no better. Well, anyway, tell me what you think. It's definitely going to get better from now on (let's hope) The plot will slowly thicken and become more interesting. R & R will ya?


	6. Chapter 5 Language barrier

Next chapter. I'm making up for lost time. Another slow one, but bear with me. Beginning chapters are almost always slow.

I'm introducing another character for the plot whether you like him or not. Just let me say that the characters that I'm going to use will be… different. Not too different , don't want to change their overall characteristics too much. Anyway, another world! A whole new problem! Enjoy!

00000000

Chapter 5

File # 5 – Language barrier

"_You can die at anytime, but living takes courage."_

_Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin)_

Somewhere in Scotland

In another world similar to the one just witnessed, there were three fifteen year old wizards roaming the grounds of their school, out of sheer boredom. They walked in silence for a while, until the tall freckled red haired boy decided to whine incoherently. Shortly after this the only girl of the trio started to get irritated at the red head's antics and tossed her bushy brown hair irritably back away from her face trying desperately to ignore him. Of course ignoring him never seemed to work.

"Would you shut up Ron!" she finally said angrily.

"I would if only we were doing something fun, Hermione! But we're just walking like idiots!" Ron said.

"It's kind of hard to do that now!" Hermione told him. "Didn't you pay attention in breakfast? Some Deatheaters escaped from Azkaban! Lord knows what will happen now!"

"Does that stop us from enjoying ourselves?" Ron said angrily.

"Ugh, you're so immature! We don't have _time_ to have fun!"

"Well, since you think that the world is going to end soon, then the more reason to enjoy what time we _do_ have. Besides, what can we do about it?"

"Lots of things!"

"Like what?!"

As the not unusual bickering between Ron and Hermione continued, the other member of the group walked in front of them lost in his own thoughts having mastered ignoring Ron and Hermione when they were at it long ago. Harry Potter, wondered what was happening rather than what _would_ happen. It seemed everything was going to get worse from now on and he wanting to know what was happening now could help him stop whatever was coming. So far his mortal enemy was letting him see through his _and_ his dear snake's eyes, why couldn't he just find out what he was up to and find a way to counter it? Yeah, like he could make Voldemort show him that. _Ugh, so frustrating!_ He thought to himself. So far trying to do the opposite thing was giving him nasty headaches thus putting him in a bad mood. He had almost snapped at Professor Flitwick for telling him that he needed to move his wrist a little more so the spell could work. Of course that having those useless classes with that wannabe-frog-look-alike Umbridge woman was adding fuel to the fire. Amazing to think he was a better teacher at Defense Against the Dark Arts at the age of fifteen than a supposed to be professional Ministry official, if he should say so himself, though his 'students' at the DA would probably say so too, much to his embarrassment.

He felt the need for something more. He felt the need for more power, some strength, he needed to beat this guy senseless, and staying at school being a good boy was not going to give that to him. He didn't want to be well known from his heroics, he just wanted to get this asshole off his back and protect those he cared for. God knew he wasn't able to do that last year with Cedric. They might not have been very close, but he did like the guy, he was a good person and in the end they managed to help each other out on the last part of the Triwizard Tournament. But Voldemort had to screw up their victory and went ahead and killed him.

"Damn it!" he said frustrated. "Great I'm feeling guilty again."

"You okay mate?" Ron asked him, having been interrupted by Harry.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked him worried.

"I'm fine. It's just…" he hesitated "It's just that I feel so useless right now."

"You aren't useless." Hermione assured him.

"Hell, you're much more useful than I can ever be." Ron said earnestly.

"Don't say that Ron." Hermione said un-amused.

They walked a little further away from the castle and reached a tree which gave nice shade and sat under it. Both Ron and Hermione looked at Harry in concern as he went into silence again.

"Have you ever thought of becoming stronger?" Harry asked them suddenly.

"Stronger?"

"Physically I mean. Do we _have_ to beat Voldemort with magic? Couldn't we just kick him or… or machine gun his ass?"

"Harry!" Hermione said indignantly.

"Ma-what?" Ron asked bewildered.

"Machine gun." Harry told him. "It's a muggle weapon that shoots some peaces of metal at a high speed and kills people."

"Cool!" Ron said excitedly

"It's not cool Ron!" Hermione said reproachfully. "It's a horrible thing!"

"But if we could use it on You-Know-Who…" Ron said.

"Oh, please! If Voldemort was so easy to kill, then someone would have done it already!" Hermione told the boys.

"You sure?" they said at the same time.

"Of course I'm sure!"

"No you're not" they said at the same time again.

"Ugh! Boys!" Hermione said exasperated.

"What does that have to do with us being boys?" Ron asked her.

Hermione was about to answer when something big fell on Ron. Ron yelled out in surprise and pain as Harry and Hermione jumped and yelled in fright, the other students resting around the grounds turned to look at the source of the commotion and stared. What fell on Ron was a person, what they could make out of said person was the long black hair tied back in a pigtail, a red shirt and black pants. Ron was struggling to get the person off just as the body started to move on its own. It was a guy not much older than them. He looked dazed and he rubbed his head while groaning something out in obvious pain. He said something like "Shimata", whatever that meant. He finally got off of Ron and opened his eyes which had been closed in pain. He found himself staring at an angry Ron. He blinked in confusion and looked around slowly at the gathering crowd his eyes finally resting on Harry and Hermione. For some reason Harry saw Hermione blush faintly when the stranger looked at her. When he looked at Harry, his eyes studied him for a moment and went up to look at the scar on Harry's forehead. He then looked back at Ron who was still looking angry.

"Dare…? Doko……?...Nani?!" he said to him.

"I'm not your nanny!" Ron said angry and confused.

"Eh?" the other one said also confused.

00000000

**RANMA'S P****.O.V (it was obviously him)**

Ranma felt pain shoot through his head and abdomen. He closed his eyes trying to will it out as he got up from where he had fallen on something rather soft. At the same time whatever he had fallen on was moving around and he felt hands trying to push him off. When he did, he kneeled where he was and kept trying to will the pain away.

"Shimata" he groaned.

When the pain subsided a little he opened his eyes to see where he was and found himself staring into the blue eyes of an angry freckled red head. He glared at Ranma fiercely and Ranma realized what he had fallen on. He blinked at him in confusion and looked around slowly. He saw, much to his annoyance, that he once again attracted a crowd. They all looked at him like he was some kind of creature they had never seen before. But to him they were the weird ones. They wore robes like those he would expect wizards and witches to use in movies or in story books, except that under those, they wore some kind of school uniform. Some had weird sticks sticking out of pockets for some reason and a few of the older looking ones where clutching theirs nervously. It made him think of wands, which, to Ranma, wouldn't be farfetched since he had seen stranger things already. But still. Where the hell was he? Behind them he saw a castle and by the castle a lake and it looked that the place was surrounded by a forest.

His eyes finally rested on the other two who were closest to him. One of them was a girl with bushy brown hair and brown eyes. She looked at him with wide eyes, her hand was halfway off her mouth where h guessed she had covered it in surprise and blushed slightly when Ranma looked at her. The other person was a boy seemingly one or two years younger than him. His hair was a mess sticking up here and there. It didn't look bad in Ranma's opinion, but people didn't usually have hair like that. He wore round glasses that covered really cool green colored eyes. Ranma's eyes were attracted to a scar on the boy's forehead shaped like a lightning bolt. The guy definitely looked interesting. He looked at Ranma with wary and intrigued eyes, he looked ready to move into action if Ranma did anything funny. Ranma looked back at the one he had landed on whom was still sitting on the ground glaring at Ranma who was also still kneeling in the same place. Finally, Ranma voiced his confusion.

"Dare…? Doko…?...Nani?!" he said, which obviously he knew to mean as 'Who' 'Where' and 'What '.

"I'm not your nanny!" the red head said obviously not in Japanese.

"Eh?" Ranma said even more confused. _What the…? Did this guy just say something in English?_ Ranma knew a bit of English. After all, Ranma had traveled around with his father, he was bound to know something. Besides, they taught English back in Furinkan High, though Ranma didn't pay much attention in class, preferring to stare out the window and day dream. But he understood stuff here and there and could speak it to some extent if a bit badly. But at the moment Ranma was too confused and alarmed to remember.

00000000

**HARRY'S P.O.V**

"Who are you?" Harry asked

"Boku….." Ranma began still too confused to attempt to speak in English. (A/N: 'Boku' means 'I' term used by men.)

"What's boku?" Ron asked bewildered standing up.

"I think he's speaking in another language!" Hermione answered him.

"Obviously!" Ron said crossly.

"Well you kept asking!" Hermione said angrily.

"Who. Are. You." Harry said loud enough to shut the other two. The rest of the crowd just stood there watching.

"Hani hani daioh." The guy sighed. (A/N: It means 'This really sucks')

"Whatever that means." Harry said confused. The guy looked at Harry and started to speak in English rather haltingly.

"Name. Is. Ranma desu." He said (A/N: 'desu' is a term used at the end of an introduction.)

"Ranmades?" Harry asked.

"I-iie." Ranma said shaking his head. "Just. Ranma."

"Oh." Harry said frowning. "Where you up the tree?" Harry said slowly pointing up to indicate. Ranma looked up confused at the tree. He seemed to be wondering the same thing. He looked back at Harry and shook his head. Harry frowned again.

"Do you know much English?" Harry asked him. Ranma made a movement with his hand indicating that he knew a little. Harry nodded. Ranma didn't seem to be a threat, in fact he looked extremely confused and a bit scared. Then again, Harry had been wrong about others in the past. He looked athletic and in shape, he also seemed like a guy that could spring into action for any reason, he just hoped he didn't. Ranma looked at Harry much the same that Harry was looking at him, calculating and curious. Behind Ranma he could see the entrance to the castle where he saw Professor Dumbledore coming in a fast pace. Apparently, someone had run up to tell him of Ranma. Sure enough he saw a student come out after him. Ranma noticing that Harry was looking at something behind him, turned around to look.

He reached the assembled students and Ranma. The students pushed each other out of the way to let Dumbledore pass. He paused in front of Ranma and looked at him curiously. In fact, Harry saw Dumbledore's eyes shine with some sort of recognition. He studied him a little longer then,

"Konnichiwa." Dumbledore said to Ranma.

"Uh, ko..konnichiwa." Ranma said apparently relieved that someone understood him and surprised that Dumbledore knew what language he spoke without asking someone about it. In fact, everyone was surprised that Dumbledore just knew, because they started murmuring among themselves.

"Watashi no namae wa Dumbledore Albus-sensei. Anata-no namae wa?" Dumbledore said. No one besides Ranma understood a thing.

"Watashi wa Saotome Ranma desu. Gomenasai" Ranma said nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Irrashaimase, Ranma! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Hajimeshite?"

"Hai, genkidesu."

"Anata wa eigo o hanashimasu ka?"

"Sukoshi."

"As, soo desu ka." Dumbledore said nodding. "Then do you mind if I switch to English? My Japanese is a little rusty." He chuckled. (A/N: And I simply don't know that much)

The spectators started to mutter again when they heard that Ranma had been speaking in Japanese. They had all gone silent when the conversation between the two had started, wanting to catch what they were saying. Not that any of them had understood. Harry exchanged looks with Ron and Hermione noticing that they must be wondering the same thing, Why was there a Japanese guy here?

"Hai." Ranma answered Dumbledore.

"Then tell me where do you come from and why and how are you here?" Dumbledore asked Ranma slowly. Ranma answered in Japanese, so no one understood his answer, except, of course, Professor Dumbledore.

"Sou desu ka?" Dumbledore asked thoughtfully. He stood there for a while brushing his long silver beard with his fingers thinking. "Hmmm." He said after a while. He looked at Ranma and gave him a kind smile. "Would you follow me please?" he turned to look at the trio standing behind Ranma. "You too?" They nodded in agreement but confused as to why he needed them. Dumbledore looked at Ranma again and said "Ikamasho!" happily, then turned around and started walking merrily back to the castle.

00000000

**RANMA'S P.O.V**

Ranma's conversation with the bespectacled boy was a bit uncomfortable, since both of them didn't know what to do or say. When the boy asked him if he had been up the tree, Ranma had looked up wondering. The last thing he remembered before coming there was, well, of him… dying. He remembered vaguely that Ryouga had been holding him while Akane and his mom were crying next to him. He also remembered the others standing back with grief on their faces. Strangely enough, at that moment he felt… loved and from people whom he had doubted. Maybe 'love' was a strong word to describe it, but it was the only thing he could think of. While he finally lost consciousness, the last thing he heard was a strange voice telling him, 'It's not your time. Not yet. You must live.'

He looked back down at the boy and shook his head. The boy frowned. He seemed wary, and, Ranma reminded himself, he must be, after all how many times a day do you see someone fall on top of a friend, which that redhead obviously seemed to be.

"Do you know much English?" the boy asked him. Ranma answered by moving his hand indicating a little. He understood. God bless international signs. The boy wasn't so much a boy, compared to Ranma, maybe one or two years younger than he. He didn't seem like a guy who would fight physically –he did look like he would if he had to though- yet there was something about him that made him look like he was ready for anything. His eyes also indicated that he had seen too much for a person his age. Being an experienced fighter and having gone through a lot himself, Ranma believed this to be true. Those green eyes looked haunted somehow. Ranma couldn't help feel a sense of familiarity from him, like he had seen him before long ago. Maybe he just looked like someone he had met before, but it wasn't likely, his looks weren't ordinary. Ranma had scrutinized him as much as he could, judging his physique, his posture, his hair, his eyes, tried to understand him without talking to him. Ranma wasn't sure why he felt he needed to do this, but there was something that told him that the person standing in front of him was very important.

All of these things had gone through his head in the space of a minute until Ranma realized that he had yet to know the boy's name. He was about to ask him when the object of his curiosity shifted his eyes to something behind Ranma. Distracted Ranma turned to look towards the castle and saw what had drawn the other teenager's attention away from him. He certainly understood why any ones attention would be shifted from a situation that was obviously very strange. The man coming towards them looked so mysterious, so _magical_ with his long silver beard, silvery blue eyes, his robes where a midnight blue and were every bit what Ranma would associate with a wizard's complete with a pointed hat. He radiated an aura of knowledge and power that it was striking. As the man approached him everything was tuned out of his mind. He was so… awesome. Ranma was sure that he was in the presence of a very important and powerful man. He definitely was a wizard.

The old wizard looked at Ranma with those calculating and wise blue orbs. It made Ranma feel self-conscious like his mind was being read. Ranma reminded himself that he probably was. He saw the old man's eyes widen ever so slightly and he probably would have missed it if he hadn't been looking into them so intently in the first place. It was almost as if the stranger recognized him. But that couldn't be, Ranma would had definitely remembered this man if he had met him before.

"Good afternoon." The old sage said suddenly, in what was un-mistakenly Japanese.

Ranma's eyes widened as he realized that there was no way that this man could have known he was Japanese, especially since he had given' no indication that he was. People from the west, besides, always called Asians, Chinese, since the great majority was to ignorant to think other wise, so how did he know that he spoke Japanese instead of Mandarin Chinese? Also, Ranma's clothes had to be considered, since they were of a Chinese style. Then again, Ranma had just seen the wisdom in this man, and he did look very old. Maybe he did know the slight physical differences the Asian people possessed. Again all this flashed into his head in the seconds it took him to respond.

"Uh, g-good afternoon." Ranma finally said a bit uneasily, still confused, but relieved that at least someone would be able to understand him.

"My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore. What is your name?" the man said kindly.

"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this." Ranma responded, a bit nervous at giving him his name.

"Welcome Ranma! I'm pleased to meet you. Are you well?" the man, who Ranma now knew as Professor Albus Dumbledore, said happily.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Ranma said. _As okay as someone can be, after landing on a complete stranger in another country, where he doesn't remember on planning on going to and after he _apparently_ died no less._ Ranma thought to himself.

"Do you speak English?" Dumbledore asked.

"A little."

"Oh, I see." Dumbledore said nodding. He considered Ranma for second, and then he suddenly reverted to English. "Then do you mind if I switch to English? My Japanese is a little rusty." He chuckled to himself. A rich sound.

Ranma heard the once silent yard, rumble with the voices of the crowd's muttering as they realized Ranma's origins.

"Sure." Ranma consented. He needed to practice his English anyway since he was apparently going to be here a while.

"Then tell me where do you come from and why and how are you here?" Dumbledore asked him.

Ranma hesitated for a moment, not sure what to say and if he should say anything. But he decided to throw caution to the winds and answer him. Ranma spoke to him in nihongo not knowing enough English to form a complete and understandable paragraph.

"I come from Japan, and last time I checked, I was still there. But now I'm suddenly here. I wasn't planning to be here. Wherever here is. I don't know how. The thing is, I was fightin' this big ugly thing that came out of no where to kill me. Some friends were there helpin' me out I guess, it was chaos back there. Suddenly, I notice the thing attack some friends of mine and it was a choice between savin' myself and let them die or savin' them and _hope_ I didn't die. But I did! Die I mean. Well I _think_ I did. Last thing I remember was of me lying down _dying_ and people crying and stuff. I don't really understand this. Oh! I forgot, there was this guy that appeared shortly before the thing and said that it was coming for me without giving any specifics. He also sort of said that he wasn't really there or somethin'. Jeez, this is so freakin' weird, I'm freaked out." Ranma finished his explanation – more like a rant actually – and rubbed his neck in confusion.

"Is that so?" Dumbledore said pensively. He stroked his beard in thought as Ranma stood there a bit restless.

He wanted to be doing something, _anything_. He felt hopeless all of a sudden. He didn't understand what was going on. He needed to know if his friends were alright. He needed to tell them he was okay, especially to his mother. It was so confusing and frustrating he was about to grab on to his long braid and rip it out.

After a brief moment Dumbledore made a sound interrupting Ranma's mental rant. "Would you follow me please?" he said to him with a kind smile, he then turned to the green eyed youth and his friends. "You too?" Ranma saw then turn confused faces at the old man and nod, he could see their confusion and share it with them. What did Dumbledore need them for? He turned to look at Ranma again. "Let's go!" he said happily in Japanese and led them off towards the castle scattering people as they made room for him and the others.

Ranma followed in respectable distance behind Dumbledore. The green eyed youth, who Ranma had yet to know the name of, was beside him. Ranma could feel him study him from the corner of his eye as he did the same, both trying their best not to make it obvious. The curiosity from him was obvious but still a tad disturbing, the guy had a really intense stare. He also had an ominous presence about him, some undiscovered or purposefully hidden power that Ranma wasn't sure if anyone else was aware of. Maybe Dumbledore knew. But how Ranma knew it was there was beyond him. It could be chi he was sensing, he was good at that. Yet it didn't feel _exactly_ right to be chi. It must be something else. He was eager to find out. The boy was certainly interesting.

Entering the castle Ranma's curiosity was instantly side tracked and he stopped. Ranma's mouth started to open slowly as he looked around. It was like nothing he had ever seen. Granted, he had never really been inside a castle before. There were tapestries hanging on tall walls, the ceiling was high above them. There were doors on either side of them, one looked to lead into the dungeons, the other into a hall with chatting kids and teenagers. Some of them came out of there to look at the new arrival, having heard from others who had seen what had transpired outside and had rushed past them to tell others. There was a magnificent staircase right across him with other pair of steps on either side connecting to doors that would definitely lead him deeper and higher into the castle. On the right side close to the entrance, were four hour-glasses each with their own color stones, one had rubies, another had emeralds, the next one had sapphires and the last one had quartz. As he looked at them, five quartz fell to join the ones at the bottom and some numbers at the hour-glass' base changed from 205 to 210. Ranma's gaze went back to the curious people and nearly jumped out of his skin. Next to them were two pearly white and see through beings. Ranma was very sure those were ghosts and he realized from the unaffected crowd, that they were an everyday thing, unless Ranma was the only one who could see them.

"Are you alright Ranma-kun?" Dumbledore asked him in English.

"H-hai." He kept staring at the ghosts and they waved at him, he jumped a little at this. "Those ghosts?" Ranma asked in English. This time the green eyed youth answered.

"Don't be afraid, they're completely harmless. That's Nearly Headless Nick and the Grey Lady." He pointed at each in turn.

"Nice to meet you young man." The male ghost said, the other, a woman, made a small curtsy.

"You too." Ranma answered inclining his head slightly albeit nervously.

"Well then Ranma-kun, shall we continue?" Dumbledore asked him smiling and with a twinkle in his eye.

"Hai."

They continued up the steps and to the right. They went into a hall full of paintings hanging on the walls. At first Ranma didn't think them so strange, until one of the paintings moved startling Ranma and he stumbled. Steadying himself, Ranma looked back at the painting. It had the image of a young girl and her mother. The girl waved at him and giggled when Ranma's eyes widened even further and his mouth started to open. He looked at the other paintings just to see them also moving about, some of the occupants of the painting disappeared for a moment just to reappear in the painting beside it, they whispered to each other and pointed in his direction. This was a bit too much.

"They're moving! The damn things are _moving_!" Ranma said in Japanese. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Indeed." He just said and continued walking.

Ranma was rooted to the spot staring at the paintings, until a sharp poke on the back of his head brought him back to his senses. Rubbing his head, Ranma looked behind him to see who had poked him and found himself face to face for the second time that day with the angry red head. The red head glared at him and nodded his head telling him to move. Ranma glared at him for a brief second then turned around and continued walking. He didn't hate the guy - Ranma didn't hate easily – but he felt annoyed by him. _He didn't have to poke me that hard!_

They went further up and into other corridors twisting this way and that, until Ranma was absolutely lost. It didn't help that Ranma kept looking all over the place looking at all the strange things. He caught glimpses here and there of kids moving those sticks of theirs and transforming stuff or making things appear out of thin air confirming Ranma's suspicions that these were witches and wizards he was with. The place looked like some sort of school. It was fascinating. And creepy.

Finally they stopped in front of a statue of a gargoyle. Ranma looked at it, trying to figure out what could possibly be so important, when he heard Dumbledore say 'Sugar Quills' and the gargoyle sprang to life, it moved to one side and revealed a stair case that spiraled up. Dumbledore went to stand on it and the rest followed. They reached a door and went inside. For like the twentieth time that day, Ranma stopped and stared. The round shaped room was filled with silvery gadgets, in the center rested a big desk. Leaning against the walls, there were book cases fool of, well, books and some more silver things. On the walls themselves, there were even more portraits also moving, but the occupants of these were asleep. Ranma could hear them snore. Everything about the room amazed him but what really made him stare was a bird perched on it's stand by the desk. It's colors were red and gold and it's tail had strange shaped feathers. Ranma knew that he was looking at a phoenix. He looked at it wearily not really sure what to make of it, he had fought a semi-god that so happened to be a phoenix and he hadn't been very trusting of anything related since. After all, said semi-god had almost killed Akane and himself for that matter. He had been one hell of a difficult son of a bitch to beat. The phoenix looked at him calmly with one black and intense eye.

Dumbledore went to his desk and took a seat, he indicated to the others to do the same and they each took a chair all facing Dumbledore. Ranma, still nervous, looked at the others while he waited for Dumbledore to speak. What was going to happen to him? Was there going to be a catastrophic problem like usual or would everything turn out alright for once? He really hoped it would be the later, he had enough of trouble for the moment.

"You three are wondering what you are doing here, I don't doubt." Dumbledore said. "But before I say anything I must first fix a problem of communication. Ranma I believe you understand a little of what I'm saying?" he asked looking at Ranma from over his half moon spectacles. Ranma moved his hand telling him that he understood a little. Dumbledore nodded. "And you can speak to a certain extent as well." Dumbledore didn't ask he merely stated but Ranma nodded anyway, catching the basic of what the old man was saying. "What I'm going to do," he said to the other three, "is a spell that is not often used but very useful and relatively easy to do. All you have to do is watch, learn and remember." He then took out his own wand, - Ranma had long convinced himself that they were wands – and changed to Japanese as he spoke to Ranma. "I won't hurt you, this is only so you can understand us better and for us to understand you in kind." He pointed his wand at Ranma and said clearly "Entendo".

Ranma felt an odd sensation come over him making his mind clouded for a few seconds making him feel numb, then he slowly came back to normal. He shivered and he shook his head trying to clear out the remaining numbness. He blinked a few times and looked around to make sure he was still there and not somewhere else or turned into something. He was okay, no extra limbs or anything, he looked at the others and saw them looking at him. The girl was murmuring the incantation, obviously trying to memorize it.

"Ranma, can you understand me clearly?" Dumbledore asked him.

Ranma looked at him and answered, "Yeah, I can." He said clearly and with no hesitation. The others eyes widened when he spoke. His voice no longer halted and his accent, though it was still present, wasn't so pronounced. It was as if he had practiced English for years. Ranma was also amazed, he had intended on answering in his native language but changed to English right before he said the first word. He looked at Dumbledore wide eyed and with a small amazed smile. _That was awesome!_ He thought to himself. Dumbledore nodded.

"How does it work Professor?" the girl said excitedly looking at Dumbledore, then Ranma, then back again.

"It is a spell that consists in making the person that speaks another language to understand and speak, let's say English, as if he or she had practiced it for years. It is used on a person whose language is in the minority. For example, Ranma is a Japanese boy who is surrounded by English people. There for, Ranma's language is in the minority reason why we don't speak Japanese but he does speak English. Did you understand?"

"That was cool sir!" the red head said.

"Thank you Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore said. "Now, I believe you've already acquainted yourselves?"

"Not really." green eyes said.

"Oh?" Dumbledore said raising his eyebrows. "I thought you had. Well, it doesn't matter, I'll introduce you. Everyone this is Ranma Saotome. Ranma, this is Hermione Granger," the girl waved at him from the second seat to his left, "Ron Weasley" the red head glared at him from his left, "and Harry Potter." Green eyes nodded his head on Ranma's right. "And they are my students here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

_I knew it, it's a school!_ "Um, nice to meat ya." Ranma said.

"Right. Now that we know each other and made friends," Dumbledore said looking pointedly at Ron, "I must explain why you three are here. Since you three have a habit of wanting to know everything strange that is going on," the trio looked at each other and grinned, "and in all likelihood you were the ones who found Ranma…"

"We didn't find him," Harry interrupted, "he found us."

"Or rather, he fell on us." Ron said rubbing his stomach.

"Sorry, I wasn't plannin' on fallin' on anybody." Ranma said to Ron. "Heck, I don' even know why I fell on anybody in the first place."

"Indeed." Dumbledore said nodding his head gravely. "We will find the answer to that, but first we must get you accommodated. I was thinking in putting you into one of the houses and for you to also attend classes, in order to evade any trouble from… certain authorities." He said this a little tensely. The trio shifted in their seats understanding what Dumbledore meant to say. Harry was glaring at a peace of furniture as if it had offended him. "I will convince everyone that you are an exchange student of sorts and that you will be staying for a short while, until I am able to send you back to where you come from."

"You make it sound like I'm some sorta alien or somethin'." Ranma said looking at Dumbledore questioning.

"I won't lie to you Ranma. There could be more to this than simple transportation from one place to another. From what you told me, I can only discern that you aren't even supposed to be among the living." Dumbledore said gravely.

"Among the living?!" the trio exclaimed at the same time.

"However," he continued ignoring the others, "you seem very much alive to me. We will find out what this is about, meanwhile you must pretend that you are a student."

"But I don't know anything about magic!" Ranma said freakin' out. "How am I supposed to pretend that I'm a student here? They'll know! Besides how am I supposed to explain why I was up that tree?! And there were some kids there who heard you ask me where I came from."

"That is easily fixed. We can pretend that you came to the school by yourself to talk to me about the exchange personally and hadn't announced yourself before hand. I can see that you are an impatient kind of person, so you came early and went up the tree to wait. Of course it sounds far fetched and some what stupid, but stranger things have happened at Hogwarts. As for you not knowing magic I will give you a special wand. This wand can perform the magic that you need with you merely uttering the word or thinking it and making the right movements, its magic is temporary, lasting only a month, but I don't think you will be here that long. But if given chance that you are still here after the month, you must come to me so I can replace it. This wand is not sold nor is it legal, due to the dangers of it falling in the hands of someone who can cause great harm, but I trust that you won't do harm, specially since I'm going to be watching you. If you need quick information about your classes, I trust that these three will help you with it as it's important that you take the same classes as they."

"So I guess you will be putting him in Gryffindor with us?" Hermione asked Dumbledore. Ranma was confused, not understanding what Gryffindor was.

"Yes Miss Granger." He answered. "I'll make the arrangements so that Ranma has everything he needs."

"But Professor is Ranma even fifteen?" Harry asked Dumbledore but looked at Ranma.

"I'm seventeen." Ranma told Harry. They both looked at Dumbledore.

"No matter. He can pretend that he is fifteen. I have seen many cases in which a person looks older than he really is." Dumbledore said.

"Alright, I'll try." Ranma said.

"Good." Dumbledore said. "If you need to know anything, please ask these three. It's almost dinner and I believe that hunger is knocking?" Dumbledore said with an amused smile. As if on cue, four stomachs started to growl in protest, they all smiled sheepishly. "Ah, see? Now you may go. And Ranma, don't speak to anyone about this nor you three."

"Yes sir." They all said as they stood up.

"Enjoy dinner!" he called out to them as they reached the door.

"We will."

"Thank you sir."

As the door closed behind the teenagers, the portraits on the walls woke up from their 'sleep' and started murmuring.

"What do you think Albus?" asked a portrait of a witch in bright red robes on Dumbledore's right. "Is it happening again?"

"Yes, I believe it is Loretta." He said. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then stood up and set out to make arrangements for Ranma. He made sure that the staff was notified. He asked Minerva to get the things that Ranma would need and to place them in the fifth year Gryffindor dormitory with an extra bed. Minerva was confused but she did so anyway. Dumbledore made a note to tell Minerva when she was done, about the events that had transpired. He knew he could trust her after all. Besides, she knew of the certain events in the past that were most certainly connected to what was going on. He needed to make sure that Dolores Umbridge would not cause any trouble since she would definitely see an inexistent plot in Ranma's appearance. After which he thought of contacting those two. He needed to make sure, and they needed to know, that it was starting again.

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Well, there you have it. Harry Potter. Had to see it coming. Like him? Hate him? I don't care, he is an important part of the story and that's how he'll stay. He won't be like you expect him to be. Just you wait……… definitely need to get better at writing. I'm getting there…………… I hope. Well, anyway, as I do, mind giving me an opinion about now? Yes? Please?


	7. Chapter 6 To dare

Just because not everyone reads or watches or plays certain things I'm going to put on here, I'm going to make a brief introduction of important characters that are relevant. This won't be in every chapter, only in those where a new important character is introduce. So those who don't know them all. Don't worry! I'll help you out with it:

**Minerva McGonagall:** She is a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She teaches the subject of Transfiguration and is very strict. She is also Head of Gryffindor house and Deputy Headmistress. She can transform into a cat. She detests Dolores Umbridge.

**Dolores Umbridge:** Due to the Ministry of Magic not believing Harry or Dumbledore that the dark wizard, Voldemort is back, they sent Umbridge to make sure that this was not a ruse and to keep an eye out for any 'revolution' from Dumbledore by taking control as High Inquisitor. She tries to make everyone believe that Harry is a liar and that Dumbledore is losing it. She is a spiteful woman that no one likes.

**Fred and George Weasley:** They are Ron's older twin brothers. They like mischief and they are planning in opening a joke shop with their own made up products.

**Marauders:** Also known as Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. They were a prankster group of four at Hogwarts. They were very popular and very smart. But, there is more to them than what they had led to believe.

**Sirius Black:** Accused of killing thirteen people with a single spell, one of them a wizard. Also believed to be a traitor and handing over the Potters to Voldemort, thus sent to Azkaban, the wizard prison, for 12 years. In truth, he is innocent and is Harry's beloved Godfather. He escaped from prison on Harry's third year and is on the run ever since. At the age of 15, he became an illegal Animagus allowing him to turn into a black dog. He is one of the members of the Marauders, his nickname being Padfoot.

**Remus Lupin:** He is a werewolf who has tried to live as a wizard. But due to his problem and people's discrimination of him, he isn't able to find work. He was hired on Harry's third year for the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, but left after only one year. He helped uncover the truth of Sirius' innocence and is his best friend. He is now under cover in the werewolf clan that support Voldemort. He has become a sort of uncle to Harry. He is one of the members of the Marauders, his nickname being Moony.

**Peter Pettigrew:** A traitor who framed Sirius by killing 12 people and pretended to be killed along with them, also he was the one who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort. He is an Animagus who can turn into a rat. He was in hiding for 12 years pretending to be Ron's pet. The truth of him was known on Harry's third year with the help of Remus and Sirius in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Unfortunately, he escaped before they could tell the authorities and clear Sirius' name. He helped bring back Voldemort. He was a member of the Marauders, his nickname being Wormtail.

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Chapter 6

File # 6 – To Dare

Somewhere in Scotland

The trio, now with a new, although temporary, member walked out from the hidden passage way that led to Dumbledore's office and made their way to the Great Hall. They were silent for some time, all thinking about what just happened in the office and what it would mean for them. For the trio, it would mean more secrecy and scheming, but for Ranma it meant completely readjusting his life. He worried about the situation. Would he be able to go back? Was he really dead? If he was, then how was he going to go back without causing panic? Dumbledore was right, he wasn't supposed to be among the living but he did very much feel alive. If he wasn't, then why did he feel hungry? And tiered? And everything else that associated him with the living? He was scared.

"Ranma?" Harry said interrupting Ranma's thoughts.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked him.

"I don't know." Ranma said. "I'm very confused right now." He refrained from saying anything about him being scared, he never admitted that he was afraid to anyone.

"It will be alright." Said Hermione bracingly. "Professor Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time. He will be able to help you. You just have to wait a while."

"Yeah." Harry said nodding.

"Thanks." Ranma said smiling at them.

"Ranma, what did Dumbledore mean by 'Not among the living' eh?" asked Ron. Ranma looked at him. Ron was apparently one of those blunt people like Ranma, who never stopped to consider the implications of what they said and just said it resulting on the person whom they were talking to, to get mad or sad or - in Ranma's case at least – get thoroughly beaten by them.

"Um, well…" Ranma hesitated, he considered whether to tell them or not. Who knew how they would react? But then, they were going to be around him for a while and it seemed only fair to tell them. After all, they hadn't complained when Dumbledore asked them to help, in fact they'd seemed eager, including Ron. But Ranma wondered why Dumbledore chose them. So he repeated what he had said to Dumbledore. It was brief and to the point. After he was done, Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at him open mouthed.

"Bloody hell." Ron said after a while.

"But that's impossible!" Hermione exclaimed. "How can you still be here. I mean you died!"

"Keep it down Hermione!" Harry warned her, he looked all around them to make sure that they weren't being heard. Then he turned to Ranma. "Are you sure you didn't dream it?" he asked, though Ranma could see he didn't really believe it himself. Even so, he still answered him.

"How the hell am I goin' to dream that up and suddenly be here man?!" Ranma looked at Harry incredulously.

"I was just looking at a possibility, no need to get angry!" Harry said.

"Sorry, it was just that it was a stupid question, that's all." Ranma said. Suddenly Ron bursted out laughing. They looked at him.

"What? It was funny!" he said defensively. They rolled their eyes.

Finally they reached the Great Hall which was already full of students. The delicious smell of food attacked their nose in full force making their mouths instantly water and their stomachs rumble in protest. It helped Ranma ignore everything else about the room. Or at least a little. He followed the others inside trying to ignore the stares in his direction. It always amazed him how he managed to be in the spotlight even when he was trying to be invisible. The trio led him to a long table decorated with a red and gold table cloth. He sat in between Ron and Harry and looked over all the delicious food he didn't think he had ever seen before.

"Help yourself." Harry said to him. Ranma complied and started to fill his plate with whatever he could reach. Before he started to eat though, he looked around at the other students – who were still looking at him – and noted they ate relatively normal. Not wanting too bring more attention to himself, he opted to eating slowly and normally. He clapped his hands together and said "Itadakimasu" and started eating. It seemed he could speak Japanese as long as he wasn't addressing someone.

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked interested.

"Um, well, we say it before every meal, like some sort of short prayer."

"Oh."

"Hey, Harry! Who's your new friend?" asked a black boy.

"This is Ranma, Dean. He's an exchange student." Harry answered. People who had stopped to hear started to murmur among themselves, even from nearby tables.

"Exchange student?" asked a sandy haired boy next to Dean. "I didn't know there was going to be an exchange."

"Well, it isn't really an 'exchange'." Hermione said, "But he will be here for a while."

"He's cute." Said a brown haired girl, loud enough for Ranma to hear, then she started giggling with an Indian girl when he looked at her. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"How long will you be here?" asked a round faced boy.

"Um, I'm not sure." Ranma answered.

"Still haven't heard of no 'exchange'." The sandy haired boy said.

"Does it matter?! He's here, now sod it!" Ron said irritably.

"Whoa man! Chill."

"Aw, is Ronniekins jealous of the new guy?" said a taunting voice from behind them. Ranma turned to look at who it was and found himself with more read heads. These two were twins and there was some sort of likeness to Ron, but they looked shorter. Ranma thought that they must be Ron's brothers or something.

"Shut up Fred! I ain't jealous. I just think they should leave him alone." Why was Ron defending him again?

"Sure Ronnie." Said the one that Ranma could only assume was Fred.

"Hey man! I heard you were Japanese." Said the other twin to Ranma.

"Yeah, I am. What of it?"

"Nothing, just heard that you didn't speak English, but here you are talking to all of us, no sweat." he said.

"You know, as much as I do George, that you can't believe everything they say around here." Harry said to the twin.

"Right you are Harry" George agreed with a wink and a grin. Then he and his twin proceeded to push Harry and Ron out of the way so they could sit on each side of Ranma while the others struggled not to let them. In the end the twins won and Harry rolled is eyes with a sigh while Ron just glared. "Don't mean to annoy you mate," George said to Ranma after making sure he was well seated, "but Fred and I thought that you might be interested in some merchandise." He said while pulling out a small box that had written on them in bold red letters 'Weasley Wizard Weezes' across the lid.

"Don't you dare!" Hermione said angrily at the twins. "I've told you many times to not sell those or I would confiscate them!" she got up from her seat and reached over to take the box from George.

"Come on Hermione!" said Fred with a grin while he watched her try and take the box away from his brother. "Where's you sense of fun?"

"Ranma just got here!" Hermione said finally snatching it away. "He doesn't know that you two are tricksters and trouble makers. He doesn't need to be subjected to you on his first day!" Hermione, it seemed, was a stickler for rules and the like. Whatever she was, it seemed that these two liked mayhem and had been about to engage Ranma on one of their many tricks.

Fred was about to retort, when there was a small cough from behind them and they turned to look. Standing there was the ugliest looking woman Ranma had seen – not including the old bat back home – dressed completely in pink of all things. She reminded him of a toad, a big ugly one. She had a small sickly sweet smile on her face and she stood like she owned the world. She looked at Ranma with eyes that shone with what he could only think of, was an evil sparkle.

"Who do we have here?" she said in an annoying high pitched girlish voice that surprised Ranma who had expected an incredible croak instead. He stared at her, unsure of what to do. This woman did not give him a good vibe. He glanced at the others for a clue and saw that they were quite pointedly trying not to glare at her, except for Harry who glared at her openly. Yep, this woman was definitely not good. "Well?" the annoying being said impatiently.

"I'm Ranma Saotome." He said finally looking back at her. "I'm an exchange student from Japan."

"Exchange student? I wasn't informed of any exchange." She said frowning at him as if he was lying and wanting very much to tell him so. The bad thing was that she was right. "_I _should have been told right away." She said. Who was this woman? She acted like _she_ was the headmaster and not Dumbledore and that she should be the only one to know things. It was annoying and he was starting to not like her _at all_. Not that he had liked her before anyway, but at least there hadn't been animosity. "Are you friends with Mr. Potter?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah." He said slowly, wondering what the hell she was getting at. So what if he was friends with Harry?

"I see." She said with a twist to her mouth. "Then let me warn you that Mr. Potter is a notorious liar and what he says about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is all untrue. But of course, you should know this. No doubt it has spread as far as Japan. I would advise you to seek better friends." The hell was wrong with her?! She insulted Harry in front of everyone, calling him a liar and was deliberately trying to make him friendless! And who the hell was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? If she didn't say his name then how was he supposed to know?

Ranma glared at her quite openly not caring one stinking bit who she was - which she hadn't even deigned to say, like he was supposed to know that too! – or what she could do to him. He wasn't even from around here anyway and he wasn't going to put up with her insulting someone he liked. Taunting or insulting him were one thing, his friends were something else entirely, even if he had only known Harry for only a half hour or so, but for some reason he felt fiercely protective over the guy and it felt very familiar for some reason. "I think that I can tell for myself who to be around with and who _not_ to be around with thank you very much." He said very clearly and rudely and for some very strange reason he had said everything quite eloquently and not at all with his usual street style way of speaking. A woman wearing emerald green robes and glasses with a stern look was coming towards them but she stopped dead when she heard what Ranma was saying. In fact the Great Hall was very silent, everyone seemed to be holding their breaths and were wide eyed with astonishment "And I would appreciate it if you would have the decency to _not_ insult my friends and calling them liars when you haven't even had the _decency_ of telling me who _you_ are. It's only polite you know. Besides, it seems ridiculous that a woman as _old_ as yourself is attacking someone half your age for no good reason."

The ugly old toad was wide eyed and indignant. She opened and closed here big horrendous mouth several times before she was able to speak. "How dare you?!" she said shrilly. "I am Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor of Hogwarts! You have no right to speak to me so!"

"Ha!" Ranma barked a mirthless laugh and stood. He was delighted to see that she barely reached his chest. "And you have no right to be an insufferable toad." He said coldly looking down at her. There was a collective gasp from the onlookers and he thought he heard someone snort with laughter behind him and quickly cut it off.

"DETENTION!" Umbridge screamed at him and still bristling with rage, she stalked off and out of the Great Hall.

The place was still deadly quiet as no one dared make a sound. Everyone, from the students to the teachers including the ghosts were silent staring at him. It suddenly dawned on Ranma what he had just done, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Quite the contrary. He looked at Harry and saw that he was grinning very widely at him, he looked on the verge of laughing. He wasn't the only one, Ron and the other two red heads were red faced with barely contained laughter and Hermione had her hand over her mouth trying very much not to burst. The stern looking which came the remaining way and stood in front of him. _This_ woman was taller than he was and more dangerous looking. She considered him for a few seconds strong and calculating eyes and then trying to hide a smile, a bit unsuccessfully she said, "You, young man, are very brave." And then the hall erupted in applause and laughter.

00000000

Albus Dumbledore was pacing from one side of his office to the other frowning and stroking his long white beard in thought. Could it possibly be? Could it be happening again after so long? Was it possible that those two knew and hadn't told him? No. They wouldn't keep it a secret when it was plain that keeping the boy alive in this world was top priority. Maybe they didn't know. In that case he had to tell them. He stopped pacing and looked to a portrait on the left side of his desk, where one of the old headmasters was supposedly sleeping.

God, that boy really did look familiar!

"Phineas. _Phineas_. PHINEAS!" Dumbledore yelled at the portrait. The man jumped and opened his eyes still insisting in making Dumbledore believe that he was sleeping.

"Yes Albus, what do you want?" Phineas said in his indifferent and bored tone of voice.

"I need you to see if Remus is in the house with Sirius. If he isn't, tell Sirius to contact him and tell him to get back to Grimmauld place immediately and wait for me there. Better still, if someone else from the Order is there tell _them_ to contact Remus. We can't have Sirius take that as an excuse to get out of the house."

"All right." Phineas said annoyed. "I'll see if my great great grandson's odd friend is there. Lord knows Sirius has an odd taste in friends." He said the last under his breath, then disappeared from his portrait to the one in Grimmauld place.

Dumbledore stood there looking at the plain dark background of Phineas Nigellus portrait without actually looking at it. He was worried. Very worried. It couldn't be. Why now after such a long silence from them? Wasn't that family dead? That boy truly looked familiar. And his name. There had been a Saotome last time. It couldn't be coincidence. Not by how he appeared suddenly out of no where completely oblivious of what happened to him. He had to be very careful with him. If Umbridge found out…

There was a really hard knock on the door suddenly and without waiting for Dumbledore's permission, the last person that he wanted to see came striding in angrily.

Umbridge had such a look on her face, you would have thought someone had just insulted her person, which, as everyone knew, she kept in high regard.

"I demand that you tell me who that boy is and what he is doing here?!" as usual she thought that she was the headmistress and not him, butting her nose in where it didn't need to be. Dumbledore suppressed an exasperated sigh and looked at her levelly in the eyes – or as level as he could with her being so short – and raised his eyebrows, a small polite smile on his lips.

"Why, Dolores a good day to you too." He said cheerfully, "What boy are we talking about? I believe there are many walking these halls." He said as casual as possible trying his best not to smirk at her. Oh, Albus Dumbledore was a nice person and was always polite with everyone. But it didn't mean that he liked every single person he met. And he definitely did NOT like Dolores Umbridge.

"Don't play the fool with me Albus! You know perfectly well who I'm talking about!"

"Harry?"

"NO!" Umbridge suddenly lost it. She took a long steadying breath to compose herself as Albus looked at her in amusement. She of course did not want to lose her composure in front of _him_, not when she was trying to take control of the situation and the school for that matter. No, she had to watch herself. She took control of herself again and looked at Dumbledore still looking decidedly angry. "The _exchange _student Albus. Which by the way I wasn't informed of before hand."

"Oh, _him._" Albus said nonchalantly chuckling to himself. Good lord! That boy hadn't been here for a day and he was already on this woman's bad side! Not even Harry had managed that feat. He was definitely that Saotome's son. "I thought you knew Dolores. I told everyone on the staff. _Note to self: Tell everyone on the staff. Now. _"Surely you were told too?"

"No I wasn't told _Albus._" She said through clenched teeth, which amazingly made her look _more_ of a toad for some odd reason. "I should have been told _before_ anyone else. I _am_ The High Inquisitor."

"Yes, Dolores you are High Inquisitor but I am the Headmaster. What happens in this school is still under my jurisdiction." He said calmly and pleasantly. He wondered whether she would come up with another one of her rules this time concerning foreign students. "Whatever is the problem with our young student?" he decided to go back with whatever brought her here in the first place before she exploded with his last comment.

"He is rude and disrespectful!" Wouldn't that be almost the same thing? "And he deliberately insulted me while I was merely trying to guide him in the right direction!" Somehow he doubted that. So the boy insulted her. Good man! Although he would had advised him otherwise, but still.

"Well, give him detention then." He replied simply.

"I did!"

"Well, I don't see what the problem is then." He said raising an eyebrow. "You gave him detention like any other student would have gotten. You've solved the problem and I see no reason why you should be in here fighting about it." From the corner of his eye, he could see Phineas waiting for him. As Umbridge opened her mouth to retort he said "And quite frankly Dolores I have other things to attend to. So if you please?" he gestured politely to the door. The woman stood there opening and closing her mouth trying to find something else to say. Finally she decided that she would do this the dignified way and turned on her heel and strode towards the door.

"Very well Albus." She said in her haughty girlish voice. "Know that I will deal with it as it should be dealt with."

"Very well Dolores, but may I remind you that even though he is an exchange student he still _is_ a student. We don't want him going back home saying anything bad about how the British wizards teach do we?"

She stopped by the door her hand on the door knob and looked back at him with a glare. "Certainly not Albus." She said. Of course she wouldn't like to undermine the Ministry as it would surely reflect on them. But that wouldn't stop her from doing something unpleasant to the poor boy - not that detentions were all that pleasant in the first place. She opened the door and finally left.

Albus gave a small sigh of relief. Thank God! After a few seconds of relishing her departure, he decided to send Fawkes to deal with the message to the teachers like only Fawkes could. He knew that if he asked them to tell Umbridge that they already knew of the exchange before he came, they would do it. No one besides Mr. Filch liked her, so it wouldn't be a problem, but he knew that he would have to explain the situation to them eventually. But until then… He turned to Phineas who had a bored expression and was looking at him a bit impatiently.

"Well, Phineas?" he asked him.

"He's there, Albus. I told him to wait for you." Phineas said.

"Good. Very good." He said. "I must find Minerva to take charge before I go of course. Thank you Phineas." He told the portrait.

"Yeah, yeah." Phineas said indifferently before resuming his 'sleeping'.

Albus shook his head at the man's antics. He turned to the door and proceeded to leave his office in search of Minerva McGonagall. It didn't take him long of course., he figured that she was headed to her office now that dinner was over. He was right. He quickened his pace to catch up to her before she got in.

"Minerva!" he called out to her. She turned to see who was calling her and was surprised to see it was the Headmaster.

"Yes, Albus?" she asked.

"I need to go out for a few hours at least. I expect that I will be back by then. In the mean time, could you take over for me?"

"Yes of course." She said, she then looked sideways checking to see if anyone was coming, when she saw the coast was clear, she stepped closer to Dumbledore and whispered, "Is this about the 'exchange' student?"

"Ah, I see you got my message." He asked with a smile, she nodded. "Yes, Minerva. It is. I must check and see if I'm correct in my suspicions."

"But Albus, do you think it wise to let him stay? Specially near Harry? It could very well be a trap. He could be a spy!" she said worriedly.

"I understand your concern my dear professor. But I believe that poor Ranma is here for other reasons. I must admit though, that I believe this _does_ concern Harry." Dumbledore said gravely.

"So it's true!" Minerva gasped.

"Ah, so you have noticed it too."

"How couldn't I! He looks so much like him. So you think it's happening again?"

"Yes, I believe so. But I must make sure before I do anything. This could very well be a fluke in the order."

"A fluke!?" Minerva said incredulously. "With that particular boy? I don't think so!"

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle. "You and I are of the same mind. But, you know that one can never be too sure." They stood there in silence for a while longer thinking of the situation each with a frown on their faces. "Well, I'm off." Albus said after a while, Minerva nodded still in thought. As he turned to leave, he remembered one last thing. "Oh, and Minerva?"

"Yes, Albus?" she asked.

"Please, keep an eye on Professor Umbridge and make sure that she doesn't go too far in harassing our guest. I believe he has detention." He thought he saw Minerva smile.

"Of course!" she said with conviction, fierce determination shining in her eyes.

Albus chuckled at this and finally turned to leave.

00000000

In the kitchen-basement back in Grimmauld place, the infamous-wrongly-accused-mass-murderer and escaped convict, Sirius Black, sat in his chair, face down on the table and his arms dangling. On the table next to him, sat a bottle of… something, he had been drinking. Across the table sat his best friend and werewolf, Remus Lupin, staring at the back of his friend's head with such a bored expression, it was a wonder he wasn't ripping out his hair. They had been sitting there for the past half hour since Dumbledore had told them to stay there and wait with absolutely nothing interesting to do.

Wait. Silence. Nothing to do. For the once loud and rowdy pranksters of Hogwarts, this was like slow murder.

"I'm soooo booooorrrred!" Sirius finally said into the silence. As if this was his cue, Remus, without the slightest change of expression, fell forward and slammed his face against the table with a very loud 'BANG!'.

"Neeeeed Sooomethiiing tooo doooo!" Remus said onto the table.

"What? Run out of books around here?" Sirius asked in a neutral tone, finally un-sticking his face from the table, resting his chin on it instead and looked at his friend's head.

"You mean all the ones that talk about dark magic, pure blood, death and other dark shit?" Remus asked also in a neutral tone, his face still on the table.

"Whoa. Did Mr. Moony just cuss?" Sirius said without a change in his tone.

"Shut up, Sirius." Remus also said without a change.

Silence………. then…

"WHY THE HELL DID HE TELL ME TO WAIT FOR?!!!" Remus finally exploded, sitting up and startling Sirius out of his chair.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!!!" Sirius angrily yelled back as he got up from the floor.

"Sorry Pads. I'm just _sooo booored_."

"Well, now you know how I feel being stuck in this God forsaken house every damn day!!" Sirius practically yelled as he started pacing the room in frustration.

"Why are you yelling at me for?" Remus said standing up angrily looking at Sirius. "I can't do anything about it!"

"Yes you CAN!"

"No I CAN'T!" At this Sirius threw up his hands and continued pacing. Remus sighed in exasperation. "Sirius, for God's sake! You're wanted for _murder_!"

"I'm stealthy! You know I'm stealthy! I'm a Marauder for crying out loud! I can avoid detection!" Sirius almost pleaded. Remus saw what he was getting at, and it wasn't his dog form that he meant nor any prankster stealth, because Lord knew that they had been caught plenty of times doing that. No, he meant something else.

"Not from someone who knows what to look for." Remus said seriously (no pun intended). He looked at Sirius intently. Sirius could see the hint. A hint referring to something that they hadn't spoken of in a long time. Yes, Remus did understand what he had been trying to say.

"Remus, no one but you, James and some other very few people know what to look for. And one of them is in no condition to say anything but gibberish, another one is… dead… and the others are trust worthy." Sirius said trying to make his werewolf friend understand.

"Are they?" Remus almost whispered. Sirius looked at him oddly.

"What? Of course they are! You know they wouldn't…!"

"You're forgetting Peter." Remus interrupted levelly.

"Peter?"

"Yes, Peter." They looked at each other. Sirius frowned unconvinced. "He knows more than people give him credit for. Let me finish." He said holding up his hand to stop Sirius from interrupting. "You know, as I know, that Pete was more than what anyone saw back in Hogwarts. We _Marauders_ were more than what anyone saw at Hogwarts. And he was- _is_ – part of it whether you like it or not. All these years and we _still_ pretend, and apparently, so does he. Now that Pete is with our enemy you must assume that he will use the knowledge that he has as a trump card when he sees the chance. You _can't_ give him that chance!"

"What about you? You're up and about. Heck! You're _inside_ the snake nest! What do you think he would do to you if he found out, _specially_ with that wretched silver hand!

"You're the main course Sirius, I'm just a side dish."

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Sirius said glaring at Remus for emphasis. Remus smiled at him.

"Maybe." Was all he said.

They looked at each other for a long time. Remus had crossed his arms and resorted to his famous 'no nonsense' face he had adopted back when they were kids at Hogwarts and he was trying to keep his more troublesome friends in check, Sirius just wore a disgruntled frown.

"You know I'm right." Remus said after a while and raised an eyebrow for emphasis.

"You're always right" Sirius mumbled still disgruntled.

"'Course I am."

Sirius 'humphed' and looked away crossing his arms like an angry child, Remus gave him a wolfish grin. Remus' advanced hearing alerted him of someone coming in. He turned from Sirius and went to the kitchen door to see who it was.

"Is it him?" asked Sirius from behind. He was already very used to Remus doing these kinds of things, like reacting to something no one else heard.

"I think… yes. It is him." Remus said as he recognized Dumbledore's silent form moving through the dark halls.

"Finally!" Sirius said in annoyance. He hadn't been very happy with Dumbledore lately. Remus stepped back to allow Dumbledore some room to get in.

"Good evening boys!" Albus said happily to them.

"Good evening." Remus said politely.

"Good evening." Sirius mumbled. Dumbledore just looked at him calmly a sparkle in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Remus for relieving you of your duties tonight without a reason, but this is an urgent matter…" Dumbledore started to explain to Remus but was interrupted.

"Is Harry okay?!" Sirius said automatically thinking that something wrong had happened to his godson.

"No, Sirius. Harry is fine." Dumbledore assured him.

"Why do I hear a 'for now' in there?" Remus said frowning at Dumbledore, Sirius looked at his friend then nodded vigorously and frowning at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore audibly sighed. "I think you should sit." Sirius and Remus looked at each other confused and worried. They did what they were told and sat in the places they were in before. When Dumbledore saw them accommodated, he continued, "Do you remember what happened around the end of your fifth year? I believe that you had just finished your OWLs."

"Yes." Remus said slowly at the same time Sirius said "Obviously!"

"It's kind of hard to forget." Remus said.

"Yeah, considering that it lasted like, how many years?" Sirius said looking at his friend.

"Um, we were 20 when it all went down the drain. So, five years?" Remus said.

"That's right! It was a year before Harry was born." Sirius said. He looked back at Dumbledore. "Why?"

Dumbledore took a seat at the head and looked at them from over his entwined fingers. "There is a boy at my school, he appeared a little before dinner, his name is Ranma."

"Ranma?" Remus and Sirius said at the same time. It sounded familiar.

"Wasn't that how Fire Leader called his kid?" Sirius asked Remus.

"Fire Leader?" Dumbledore asked interested.

"That's how we called the Fourth Commander." Remus explained.

"So it must be him." Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"Who?" Sirius asked him bewildered. Dumbledore looked at them both seriously, he knew what this would mean to them.

"Boys, I believe that the young man at my school is the same child." Dumbledore said gravely.

There was a heavy silence as both Remus and Sirius processed what he had just said.

Finally Remus spoke.

"But, Albus, it was reported that Genma died with his son." Remus said. "It can't be the same boy."

"Yeah, if Genma was killed – and he was one hell of a son of a bitch to kill – then the kid wouldn't have survived. After all he _was_ being protected by his father and if his father is indisposed then…" Sirius trailed of. It wasn't an easy subject to discuss considering that Genma's death had been the end for everything they had done for those five years. It had been a heavy blow and one that did hurt. Genma, in spite his goofyness, had been a good friend and commander. His son had also been important to them all.

They fell into silence again. Dumbledore respectfully kept his peace while the other two collected themselves. He remembered all to well how depressed they had been when it happened. All four of their commanders and their main leader had been killed and as far as he could understand, many of the other warriors had also died a bit after. It wasn't something he expected to be completely forgotten. It was only after James and Lily had married that everything seemed to get back to normal, not including the missions that they used to have, which _had_ been normal as strange as it was for everyone else. But no matter how hard it was for them, he needed to make sure that this boy was who he thought he was.

"Boys, I understand that this is not easy, but I need to know before I do anything else. You must go and observe him, see if he is familiar to you." Dumbledore told them.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Sirius asked. "Albus, if it _is_ his son, that doesn't necessarily mean that he would be familiar."

"He's got a point." Remus said looking at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore chuckled, "Oh, believe me boys. If I was reminded of Genma and I didn't know him as well as you did, then you would definitely be able to tell. Some of his attitude is similar to his father's and I believe that there was something of his mother in there too. Altough he is his own person, so I'm not really able to tell."

This statement startled the other two. They looked at each other, their eye brows raised. Could it really be? If Dumbledore found him familiar then…

"Of course, I could be wrong, I'm getting old." Dumbledore chuckled again while twiddling is thumbs and looking up at the ceiling.

It was a while until Sirius finally got what Dumbledore had just said, "Wait a minute! Did you say I can get out of here?!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Oh, no." Remus moaned as he put his face in his hands.

"Yes, Sirius. But, _only_ to observe. You are not to interact or be seen no matter what. Is it understood?" Dumbledore said sternly at him, as he had a couple of times when they were just students.

"Yes, sir!" Sirius said in fake seriousness (Once again, no pun intended) standing up in mock salute.

"Oh my God." Remus said still with his hands covering his face.

"Come on Rem! This should be fun!" Sirius said happily.

"……….. right."

00000000

Wow, fifteen pages. Good lord. Okay, if it makes no sense, then you'll just have to wait for later chapters for the answers. And if no one likes were I'm going with Peter Pettigrew, then let me just say: Flame me all you want! It's called poetic license! And I'm using it! Ha! Well till next time! R&R Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeeee?


	8. Author's Note

Sorry, to whoever was reading this, but I'm no longer going to update this story. Not because I don't want to, but because I'm working on a newer an improved version in which, I hope, the writing is much better and less… bad. So I hope that you'll go over there and read that one instead. But I must warn you that I won't be updating very much because of school and such and also because I sometimes have no idea how to write the next chapter :P

Thanks for reading

New story here .net/s/7320394/1/The_Guardians_The_Elementals_Champions


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